


Half a hero

by LadyKG



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Bleach x Naruto, Crossover, Naruto is Kaien is Naruto, Pairings undecided, Read the author's note please, basically naruto died and was reborn as kaien in bleach world, narutoxbleach, then died and was shoved back into naruto world because plot, this is for fun, xover, years don't go in order so pay attention to the chapter titles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-15 05:59:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9222107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKG/pseuds/LadyKG
Summary: ‘The Prophecy Child’ the Soul King called him. Not that he knows much of what that means, he isn’t much of a child anymore – but he supposes everyone is in the Soul King’s eyes. He doesn’t much like the sound of it anyway, he prefers the title of Lieutenant of the Thirteenth.It doesn't change his situation, however.





	1. Third year part 1

**Author's Note:**

> ‘Ello lovely readers,  
> I don't own Naruto or Bleach (only saying this once).  
> So the title is super important for each chapter, so please pay attention - it gives you when the events are happening because this is not posted completely in order. Also, I’m sorry for an OOC-ness, Kaien isn’t really touched on much in Bleach so I kind of took a mix of how I see him acting and how other fanfiction authors do.  
> Basic premise - Naruto dies and is reborn in soul society as Shiba Kaien, he then dies again (some way he does in canon) and is returned to the elemental nations.  
> Anyway! Here is my latest crossover! Hope you all enjoy and please review!

The leaves rustle softly from their attached states, the bright light of mid-afternoon turning the normal deep tones a blinding shade of dappled yellow. The breeze is mildly gentle as it caresses them to dance asking if they would join in the symphony of natural sounds. The shadows they offer for cover cool the earth below, leaving the ground a welcoming place for a traveler to settle and rest.

And that is exactly what Kaien would be doing, if it wasn’t for the annoying knowledge he is being followed. (More like tracked, but he knows very well that he can escape at any time. No matter how fast shinobi go a Shinigami’s shunpo will always outstretched that speed. Perhaps, should the famed fourth Hokage still be around that would be inaccurate, but that is not the case). All the same, he isn’t particularly interested in being caught up to, and setting traps will only slow trained ninja down so much.

He should know, he used to be one after all.

The Shiba can easily feel them approaching, their souls a bright beacon against his senses. Knows that if he doesn’t pick up his pace from leisure to something more demanding they will be within his line of sight in mere minutes.

_“They’re persistent,”_ Nejibana comments idly from his inner world.

“Tell me about,” Kaien grumbles, stepping into a shunpo that brings him to land on the branch of a tree. “We’re on the edge of Wind Country and they still haven’t given up.”

**_“Maybe you should just take them out already_ ,” **Kurama pitches in, his tone entirely too happy about the idea.

“Not unless I want the next team out to kill me,” he huffs.

_“I’d like to seem them try,”_ his zanpakuto sniffs imperiously, he can practically see the dramatic cross of her arms that follows, draping fabric laced prettily with embroidered flowers swinging smoothly for added affect.

“That’s not the point,” the Shiba sighs as he shunpos another few steps, the trees thinning to give way to the desert sands of Suna’s terrain. He creates a small composition of reishi to prevent any footprints from giving them any easy means by which to follow, the small, controlled, output not nearly enough for them to sense. Especially because it is entirely spiritual energy, these shinobi with their lack of knowledge on Shinigami will be looking for a mixture closer to chakra.

Making a detour to Suna won’t hurt, it’s not like he has anywhere in particular he needs to be. Besides he should probably pick up the latest edition of the bingo book if he wants to continue with his bounty-hunting. Although the money from the more recent catches – not kills, never kills – have been more than enough to fund his near aimless wandering. (S-class criminals go for astounding amounts, even in his first life in this world he hadn’t realized to what extent).

Although the Wind Country’s weather leaves much to be desired (reminds him a lot of Hueco Mundo honestly) the sky is the bluest he has bared witness to in a long time. The canvas of trees in Fire Country don’t allow much in the way of open sky, and clouds tended paint delicate pastel whites in every other country he’s visited as of late.

_“It is quite beautiful,”_ Nejibana sighs wistfully. _“Reminds me of a calm sea.”_

He can hear the hidden message, the underneath the underneath. But he doesn’t comment, knows that facing it will only lead to another long lecture he isn’t in the mood to deal with. Because he’s working on it, has been since he got thrust back into the Elemental Nations because apparently he still had something to do here. ‘The Prophecy Child’ the Soul King called him. Not that he knows much of what that means, he isn’t much of a child anymore – but he supposes everyone is in the Soul King’s eyes. He doesn’t much like the sound of it anyway, he prefers the title of Lieutenant of the Thirteenth.

He prefers his status as a Shinigami over that of his past life’s as a shinobi.

Prefers the honor, the comradery, the family, the _everything._

It doesn’t change his situation, however. (No matter how much his heart wants it). He is still in the Elemental Nations, still dodging villages’ teams trying to either recruit him or take him out. A tedious and annoying task seeing as he still has to track down his next means of income _while_ doing so – not impossible by any means but simply a nuisance to deal with. Especially when they manage to correctly guess his next target and make it a point to be there when he is making his move to bring them in.

Really, can’t they just let him work in peace?

**_“Do you really think these hairless monkeys know the meaning of that word?”_ **

_“That’s rich coming from you, you overgrown fur-ball.”_

**_“What did you just call me!?”_ **

_“Oh don’t pretend your giant bunny ears didn’t-“_

**_“I am a_ fox _you-“_**

_‘Guys!’_ Kaien gives a mental shout, silencing his bickering teammates. Really, they’ve been worse ever since this entire adventure started. They were like this in the beginning too; always at each other’s necks, notably before Kaien had been able to break through all of the fox’s hatred and become something more synonymous with family. (They share something he likes to call ‘heart’ now, and it only serves to make the connection between himself and his powers that much stronger). The two still bicker of course, but it hasn’t been as constant as this for centuries now.

Perhaps it has something to do with all the rain recently.

With a few more bursts of shunpo, moving at his usual blinding speeds, Kaien comes to a halt a few meters from the front gates of Sunagakure. He forces himself to restrain the urge to let out a whistle of appreciation for the sheer size of the village; a beautiful gem in this desert landscape. Encrusted with reds and pale sandy yellows, the haze of heat giving the illusion that a mist surrounds the buildings. There are deep browns and bursts of sun-paled blues that he can see peaking around the streets from his angle. His senses pick up life; bright and warm and welcoming – if a little tense he notes.  And all he wants to do is see more. He has never been to Suna, not in this life nor the one before, even with his connection to that redheaded jinchuriki – Gaara, was it?

Still, the village is a sight to behold. He walks the last few meters, letting his feet sink into the sands with each step; he has no intentions of bringing himself any form of suspicion, not when he needs to keep a low profile. And walking a foot above the ground won’t do anything the quench the guard’s wariness. As it is, the village will no doubt want to bombard him with offers of recruitment into their forces or offers of an alliance with how often they seem to be sending teams out to try and meet with him.

Nejibana murmurs something cuttingly close to a complaint along the lines of him getting a too-large ego, and how they need to find someone who can once more keep it in check.

_‘It’s not a big ego if it’s true,’_ he sings into his mind, trying not to let his teasing mirth make an appearance on his expression. Because they both know that no matter his status in the political and social realms he will never let that affect him nor his interactions with those around him. (Or, his _used-to-be_ status; noble families and high ranking seated positions mean nothing here).

The two guards at the gate meet him with more open hostility than he was expecting, even with his sword he thought the welcoming would be more… relaxed.

“What business do you have here!?” One of them shouts out, body in a ready stance and hand twitching in the way Kaien has seen other puppet users be subject to.

“I came to see Gaara,” he announces easily, eyes deceptively bright to hide the calculating look buried beneath. It won’t do him any good to say he’s a simple tourist, from the looks of it they won’t be accepting any today; which means something happened. Something big. He needs more information and the only means to that end is by talking himself into the village. Presenting himself as someone who knows a higher up will only ensure that they let him pass. And besides, if they take him directly to Gaara then perhaps he could flesh out an alliance of sorts – at least enough of one that the Kazekage won’t send any more teams after him.

Their reactions are not what he expects. One of them leaps from the high wall, disappearing behind and into the vast city beyond. The other scowls deeply, killer intent filtering into the atmosphere like a warning. Thick and targeted with true intentions to act should Kaien make a single move.

“What reason do you have for seeing Kazekage-sama?” The same guard demands, and Kaien can feel the rising tension, the rise of his energy like a slow building wave.

_‘So the rumors_ are _true,’_ the Shiba thinks with satisfaction (it also makes his previous gamble that much better – he hadn’t been entirely sure the jinchuriki was in fact the Kazekage); he can recall the redhead fondly from his time as a living soul. And although many of his memories are faded or blurred with age and time, others are bright and shiny as if only just made. A precious spark of his past that he holds close to his heart in memorial for all that he had lost when he moved into his next life in Soul Society.

**_“This just means that damn raccoon is going to be all smug and self-righteous about his container,”_** the biju in him huffs.

_“But it’s also progress,”_ Nejibana comments, her words stalling all of them with the significance. It is no secret that jinchuriki are hated and feared for what they contain and what they can do. For what _potential_ they hold inside of them – quiet literally.

For one to become a Kage, after the fact, after having been so ridiculed and shunned. It’s nothing short of a miracle. Nothing short of true progress towards people understanding what they actually are.

Even in Soul Society Kurama’s presence was something the Shiba knew to keep hidden. At first it was due to an ingrained fear that his new family would outright reject him and send him off to live in the streets alone. But it turned into self-preservation when he noticed how stagnant the Gotei Thirteen are. How set in there ways and how close Kurama could be considered to a hollow – how he would be seen as something to be destroyed. By that time Kaien had already become something resembling brothers with the irritating bundle of fur. Kurama was _precious_ to him, and he had no intentions of seeing any harm come his way.

As loyal as he is to the Gotei, as much as he adores being a Shinigami and working to protect the souls passing on and help them with their own journey into the afterlife, he could also see the system’s short comings. That is not to say he would move against it as blatantly as Aizen seems to plan on doing. Really, his plans were nothing short of despicable – entirely self-serving and using innocents as a key. Just the thought of the man makes his blood boil – truly he should have taken him out when he had the chance. Maybe then Miyako would be-

_“Kaien.”_ Nejibana’s needle sharp voice hooks onto his conscious and drags it back from the sudden spiral of self-blame he was about to enter. That he _has_ entered before.

**_“It’s starting to rain, Kit,”_** Kurama pitches in.

_‘Sorry,’_ he mumbles out.

_“Now, focus, another shinobi has arrived.”_

“He says he’s here to see Gaara,” the guard explains curtly to the new arrival.

“Did he mention why?” The sand-blonde woman asks.

“No, he refused to answer.”

_‘Oops,’_ he thinks with a mental wince; he hadn’t exactly planned on getting lost in his thoughts.

The girl’s eyes narrow at this, sharp gaze turning to take him in.

It’s then that he feels it, a rushing burst of power in the far distance, as if some great gate has been left open and then so suddenly shut – it comes hot and fast and for only a second before the burst simmers to a dull thumping and then vanishes. But it draws his attention, speaks of battle and of-

His eyes go wide when he gets a hint of malicious chakra, thick and old. It feels like-

**_“Shukaku.”_** He had thought that feeling of Shukaku’s chakra was normal for the area, the desert saturated by the romance of the biju’s presence, so feeling it so blatantly had seemed natural. Now, he knows better.

He’s gone before he can even hear whatever it is the blonde must have wanted to say. Blurring across the sands with speeds most could only ever hope to achieve. Someone he once held in regards as a friend is being hurt, being _killed._ There is no way he’ll let that happen; it goes against everything he stands for. Everything Jushiro-taichou stands for.

He pushes himself to move faster, to cover more distance with each shunpo, but he knows he won’t make it. Can’t feel Shukaku’s signature anymore. Instead others flair up; ones that tickle a nostalgic wave down his spin like déjà vu but he can’t pull the threads properly from their tomb of memories with a gravestone marked to belong to this world.

The Akatsuki are behind this he knows; anytime a tailed beast is involved it tends to lead back to them. And although he has done well these past couple years with keeping up with their plans and interfering his spy network had caught no word of this. It is mere coincidence that-

Except, it’s not.

That Konoha team had started on his tail two days ago, acting quit eccentric in their tracking, all but _driving_ him to the desert. He doesn’t bother holding in his snort as the pieces fall into place.

Another two shunpo and he blurs past a shock of pink hair; the shake of the earth and the small brush of finely controlled chakra stirs his senses for the split second he lets himself touch against the fine sand.

He can feel signatures farther out, five of them, and he can only assume that is where Gaara currently is, the battle he just passed nothing more than the Konoha team splitting up to deal with their enemies. A smart move considering the sheer power he feels residing in them.

Another striding burst gives him all of a split second to access the situation and make a move.

He slides between the blond bomber and his current allies (mutual enemies and all that he supposes) constructing a kido without the need for incantation. He isn’t as skilled in kido barriers as some of his fellow Shinigami but he has been training since his arrival and he likes to think he has improved. The rush of spiritual energy comes just in time as the crawling sculptures of white clay go up in intense explosions. Dirt and the local plant life, the only victims of the attack, create a cloud of dust obscuring the Akatsuki member from view for the time being.

He holds it for a second longer, lets his eyes scan over the rest of the present team – Sasuke, and Kakashi he recognizes, a pale male he does not and…

The body and ghost of the Kazekage. His chain is broken. The Shiba’s heart clenches.

The barrier falls then, letting the debris filter over himself and those behind him – apparently his sudden arrival startled them enough that they refrained from any questions. They are in the middle of battle. Such things can wait for later.

Not allowing the enemy time for reprieve, even in the dust storm, he shunpos to where he can feel a flicker of spiritual energy. Blade drawn, metal flashing as it meets a kunai. He draws back. Not a smart move. The hot white fizzle of a bomb lurches to life under his feet. A flash step takes him into the air, yet it does nothing to prevent the lick of heat singeing the bottoms of his sandaled feet. Nor the scrap of woodchips against his exposed skin.

He moves forward catching the last bits of shockwave from the bomb to help propel him towards the blond. A slash of his blade. A block, duck, side kick, block. Metal meets metal, draw back, dive to the side. Avoid another annoying sculpture. Fall back. Push forward. He sheaths his blade, reishi blazing inside him and Nejibana singing to be released. But not yet.

“Bakudo nine: Geki,” he commands, arms held out, fingers crossed right before the first junction and aimed precisely at the enemy. A red light forms a halo over his figure, his reishi building rapidly to abide by his demand, but just as it takes affect his target decides _now_ is the time to implement a substitution.

An exploding one at that.

He scowls, but doesn’t let the disappointment cloud his judgement, already moving to dodge the next barrage of attacks.

It’s then that the Konoha shinobi finally decide to chip in and help. A lightening jutsu flies past him, striking the tree branch where the bomber had stood moments before. A beast comes next and it takes him a moment to understand that the pale, black haired boy had drawn the creature into existence. But when he does he can’t help but appreciate its effectiveness at taking out the sculptures before they can reach any flesh and blood victims.

He follows the trail of spiritual energy, lets it lead him to the blond who is stuffing his hands into two pouches at his sides. Taking advantage of the split second incapacity to use two appendages Kaien starts building reishi for his next spell.

“Hado seventy-three: Soren Sokatsui.” Blue flames shoot from his exposed palms, coming to meet in a violent light show speeding towards the bomber. They drag along the ground, tearing a fissure into the earth as it catches the tail of the man’s cloak, setting it aflame and forcing the bomber to strip the fabric.

Kaien narrows his eyes in satisfaction.

He shunpos at blinding speed to the branch the Akatsuki member stands on, blade drawn and striking out before anyone can so much as blink. His sword hits clay. But he _knows_ that he felt flesh, for however short a time it was. He has landed a hit - not a mortal wound, but one that should slow the bomber down a bit.

_“I hate substitution jutsu,”_ Nejibana decides. He can’t say that he disagrees.

He leaps back, knowing all too well that the clone will explode at any second. The lick of flames just misses him, and Kaien hides his sigh of relief behind his next attack. Not even bothering to let his body hit the ground he composes a base of reishi beneath him to push off of. Sword leading he manages to slice a deep gash into the man’s arm before he retreats with a hiss of pain.

Sasuke and the pale boy stand back as Kaien moves, clearly trying to ease themselves into his style and calculate a means to incorporate their own for a more affective team advantage. Their initial help a good distraction but lacking in cohesion that normally comes from a three-team attack, breaking apart any advantages it may have had. As it is they will only get in each other’s ways and cause more damage than good.

It seems they found whatever they were watching for, because the next time he draws back they are moving forward. One releasing a horde of beasts and the other with a roaring handful of electricity.

He has no intentions of releasing his shikai here; sees no reason to give such information about his abilities away at this moment in time. Especially when he doesn’t know whether these Konoha shinobi will remain friendly once this battle is said and done.

“Just die already,” the blond grits in irritation, blue eyes - and hadn’t his own orbs been a similar colour once? - flickering dark with anger.

“Sorry,” Kaien comments, flipping over a blob of clay that is wabbling towards him, letting the Uchiha pin it with a lightening jutsu. “But being blown to bits isn’t exactly in my schedule.”

Just as his sentence finishes a particularly nasty bomb detonates at his feet, he leaps into the air, setting a shaky-at-best barrier beneath him to take the brunt of the blow, but the reishi breaks, shattering under the pressure and its own shoddy creation.

He falls back, scowl dancing over his features as he lands beside a silver-haired jounin – Kakashi, his old sensei, he recalls – the man seems winded, sharingan eye covered and his signature heavily depleted. Kaien glances at him, lets his reishi run a scan of the man’s body and finds that he is simply exhausted; in no further danger should he stay out of the rest of the fight. Which, Kaien notes solemnly, doesn’t seem to be a problem; he is the one allocated to guard the Kazekage’s body, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be giving up that post.

The Shinigami feels another pang of pain streak fast and acidic through his chest, anger rises with it, anger at the blond who took his friend’s life. Anger at the organization that made it all possible.

And anger at himself for assuming his spy network - however extensive - could get a hint of all the Akatsuki’s plans in time.

“Who are you?” Kakashi’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. But another, larger explosion, draws his attention away without time to answer. He covers his eyes as the shockwave rattles past them, sending debris with it.

He is about to move forward again, spotting an opening within the lines of battle, when another team bursts onto the scene. Neji he recognizes easily enough – the boy obsessed with fate – while the two green-clad… things… draw only a niggling of memory. He doesn’t pay much attention to the rest of the fight, not that it lasts long. He’s too busy studying the way Gaara has a chain, the metal links originating from his chest have a good length to them, but with how rapidly they are eating away at each other Kaien doesn’t doubt he will fade away soon enough.

He could-

And then someone is shouting to retreat. Kaien refocuses to find a wild-eyed clone forming the hand sign for release. He can feel the real blond burrowing underground; but he suspects that if he should mention something then it will do no good - as it stands he believes this is the closest to a retreat he is willing to give at the moment.

So Kaien follows the rest of the group to a small clearing some ways away, ignoring the way the earth itself shakes with the detonation of this particular clone.

“My eternal rival!” The larger green-thing yells suddenly, drawing everyone’s attention, “You must introduce your friend!”

There is a pause, much longer than could be considered politely appropriate before he resolves to answer, “Hm, did you say something?”

A lazy – _tired,_ Kaien mentally corrects – blink accompanies the answering question. The act is good, near perfect, but his exhaustion is obvious to the Shinigami’s eyes, the stuttering slump of his spiritual energy only adding evidence to the undeniable.

Kaien doesn’t pay attention to the green-thing’s response, too busy accessing the needed time until Gaara’s soul disappears.

Not that long, he estimates.

A pink haired girl – Sakura, he thinks she is called – a man, and an elderly woman crashing through the undergrowth and into the clearing brings him from his thoughts. The three new arrivals take in the clearing before their eyes land on Kaien’s figure.

“Who are you?” Sakura – yes, he is sure that is her name with those green eyes and pastel coral locks – asks, simultaneously moving her boy in front of her elder.

He could leave, could simply not answer and chase after Deidara to the Akatsuki’s hide-out and-

_“What happened to not running away?”_

_‘I’m not.’_

_“Liar. Now, introduce yourself properly, you’re being rude.”_

Letting out a huff of air, fond and annoyed all at once for his zanpakuto, he offers a wide grin to his tentative allies. Face-splitting, teeth-baring, eye-squinting grin. His one hand comes to rest on the hilt of his sword, a natural position that is both unconscious and a silent warning, while the other points to himself with his thumb.

“I’m Shiba Kaien, lieutenant of the thirteenth and head of the Shiba family, it’s nice to meet you!” He announces the titles with pride, because even if they won’t mean anything to these people, they mean _everything_ to him. And maybe they will bring questions, but the answers will mean nothing to those who haven’t lived in his world.

“Shiba family?” Sasuke speaks up, eyes sharp and mind already making the connection that ‘family’ is synonymous with ‘clan’. “Never heard of them.”

He doesn’t let his smile drop, “You wouldn’t have.”

“And the thirteenth,” Neji starts, “what is that?”

“It’s a military system my people use,” he scratches the back of his head, “you wouldn’t really understand.” And that’s true enough, they wouldn’t know the significance, the history, nor anything else that comes with belonging to a division.

He can see the way they are eyeing his sword, have been since he placed his hand on the hilt. “You’re a samurai?” the brown-haired new-arrival speaks next – really, Kaien doesn’t recognize him at all, but his energy feels like life and nature; like a forest in the spring when the world is blooming. It’s calming, and steady in a way that makes him want to let it wash over him.

“What is this, twenty questions?” He jokes, raising an eyebrow. Because he has no inclination of either denying or asserting that fact – let them draw their own conclusions. It would be for the best, after all.

Trying to move the topic away from himself he pointedly looks at the body of the redhead leaned laid out across the soft bedding of grass besides his old sensei. A pang of regret and anger runs through him at the thought he wasn’t capable of getting here in time. He moves closer; to both the tired man and his dead friend, intent on bringing the object of his latest failure back to Sunagakure.

It’s a bit selfish, he recognizes, but that knowledge doesn’t stop him. What does is the sudden blade at his throat.

A sharp grey eye meets his steadily.

“Sakura,” the man calls out.

“Hai,” she easily understands, moving to the Kazekage’s side. Gaara’s soul follows after, eyes forlorn and slightly glazed in a lost way. He can feel the rise of healing energy, unable to turn and watch what he can only assume is a check to make certain Gaara has passed on. He is too preoccupied with the silent war of wills that he and Kakashi are having.

The medical chakra cuts off.

“He’s…” she pauses, a breath is taken in for fortification against the shaking of shocked muscles. “He’s dead.”

Kaien twists his head to look, breaking the contest, even though he already knows; has already seen the broken chain.

**_“Kit, we should leave and follow blondie, there’s nothing more we can do here,”_** Kurama comments gruffly, although the Shiba notes the fox’s voice is more gentle than normal. And he knows it’s true, had planned to mere minutes prior. But… he can’t bring himself to leave until Gaara’s soul has faded into the pure land. No one deserves to die alone, and Gaara has already lost part of his place in this world, to lose the rest of his chain and disappear without a single person who can _see_ him, can _touch_ him, would go against Kaien’s beliefs too strongly. Gaara moved on half-way without a single piece of heart for his loved ones to keep - Kaien won’t let him move the rest of the way in the same manner.

Besides, it won’t be long now.

There are only a few links left. He has a minute, two at best.

Another piece disappears, the particles falling like snow caught in the gentle current on a cold winter’s day. Stars in their own right as they twinkle for a bright moment and start to burn out in time with Gaara’s life.

And then something that Kaien, in all his centuries, has never bared witness to - never even _heard_ of - takes place. The chain starts to glow.

Bright and blue like the very chakra running through these shinobi’s coils. It lights up like the sun, casting a shadow over the world unseen to those who are living. And then they start to _regrow._ The metal forming anew; a trail of bright blue streams like the northern likes connects the Kazekage to his body, slowly rebuilding what once was lost. Particle by particle.

The sight is beautiful, like nothing he has ever seen before. (He knows that those with dojutsu have them activated, and the Shiba absently wonders what it is they can see. But he is certain that it is not nearly as breath-taking as this).

Beautiful, but costly. He can see what the elderly woman is giving up for this, can feel the life force draining from her body - not _just_ chakra, but her very essence, the very threads and chain keeping her soul attached to her living body. They unstitch with each particle replaced, slow and meticulous in their degradation.

By the time she has returned seventeen links to the Kazekage Kaien can feel the presence of others cresting on the horizon, barring down on them with all the speed these shinobi can muster.

He can also feel that her sacrifice won’t be enough, and with the way her shoulders are tense, and her mouth pulling into a firm scowl she feels it as well. He shifts his weight - he may not have chakra but…

Grass tickles his legs, cushioning the hard earth as it comes up to meet his knees, the wind rushes through his hair in a caress of assurance as he takes a steadying breathe.

But he can try.

Kneeling before the body, on the opposite side to the woman he offers his hands. Palms up, his jaw is set, face determined.

“You can use as much of my rei-chakra as you need,” he tells her as their eyes meet - her own having blown wide; staring at him in both wonder and clear calculation.

“Why?”

_Why would you, a complete stranger, help? What is your purpose? What do you hope to gain from this? Why?_

“Because I can,” he answers without hesitation. There are so many more reasons, piling like a mountain inside of him, but none that he can properly voice.

She stares at him a moment longer, holding out as her threads weaken still.

“Put your hands over mine, boy.”

He holds back a snort, _‘I’m older than you,’_ he doesn’t say allowed.

A hiss pulls sharp and painful from his lips, sucking between his teeth and chilling them with a stinging hurt. But nothing nearly as bad as the thrumming ache running through his body. A loss of control like no other that sends his mind into a frenzy of plans to escape, instincts screaming to pull back. But he won’t, refuses them even as they protest; this is for Gaara.

Their eyes are still locked when she takes over his system and flow of energy, a startled look crossing her depths as she fully integrates his reishi.

“You…” she murmurs.

“Yes,” he offers a smile, white teeth glinting - though he is sure it looks more like a grimace. He knows she can’t tell what he is entirely, won’t feel Nejibana nor Kurama’s presences, but the lingering scent of death will clue her in to his status.

“But-“

“Not always,” he interrupts, already guessing as to her statement - an obvious one in this situation. Because Shinigami are harbingers of death, are they not? What would one be doing _saving_ a life?

She lets out a wry chuckle, eyes turning up to the canopy of blue stretched out above with a wistful pull of her lips. “Everything I’ve ever done was a mistake,” she tells him - tells _them._ “But now, at the end, it looks like I’ll finally be able to do the right thing. The future will be much different than the way things were back in my day.

“Sakura,” the woman calls out, continuing when she is confirmed that the pinket is listening. “Help those closest to your heart. Not some old grandmother with one foot in the grave. You are a lot like me, child, so few women possess such strong spirit. You’ll surpass your master as a kunoichi, I have no doubt.”

A tear escapes green windows, tugging on pale skin and trailing to drip from a bowed chin. There is a pause then, as the woman seemingly gathers her thoughts, pushing the last of her concentration into her final deed. Her eyes move on from their study of the space between the slowly gathering clouds above to rest on Kaien with calm relief.

“I’m happy that someone like you has appeared in the shinobi world we foolish old people created… This world can best many things, but I don’t think even the Akatsuki can outrun death,” the words are meant for him and him alone, caught on her last breaths as the final stitch breaks and her soul is thrust into the bare world - breaking apart before it can even properly form.


	2. Third year part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Ello lovely readers!
> 
> So this chapter is a bit dialogue heavy so I’m sorry for that, but I hope you all enjoy and please tell me if anyone seems OOC! (Although some personalities will shift slightly due to circumstances).
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy and please review!

 

Sakura rushes forward to stop the woman’s body from hitting the ground as it collapses backwards, eyes closed and face slack in a strange peace. He starts to stand up, legs like those of a new born fawn. Having one’s control suddenly taken and then just as suddenly given back for such a deadly technique is a harrowing set of events for one’s body to take on, and he is suffering the effects for it. Not that he cares much; Gaara is saved, after all. Now all the redhead has to do is wake up.

“What was your name again?” The green-clad shinobi asks him, walking forward a few steps.

“Shiba Kaien,” He says easily enough, trying to suppress the urge to ask if the man hit his head recently. But he can also see the suspicion lingering in these leaf shinobi, can see the way their muscles are tense with preparation to fight should they have need of it. So perhaps it was more of an attempt to reduce that tension, even if it failed. “You know it’s rude to ask for someone’s name and not give one in return.”

The man gives a hearty laugh, spouting something about youth and spring. The Shiba manages to pick out ‘Gai’ from the onslaught of words.

“Hatake Kakashi,” his old sensei inclines his head, eye deceptively lazy.

And the introductions continue, finishing just as the bright pockets of life he felt before arrive. Suna shinobi gathering around the scene with questions in their eyes and a wary hopefulness in their stances.

Gaara makes his entrance then, eyes fluttering open and lungs sucking in a more full drag of oxygen to alert those of his wakefulness. Kaien watches it all; the way the people hold their breath, the way they cheer - noise resounding loud and filling the atmosphere with pure joy. The way Gaara pushes himself up with wide eyes, scanning the crowd in shock and something close to endearment - to love, dare he say it. The exhaustion is there, the pain and the stiffness in limbs still getting used to having a soul once more stitched into them, but that is outweighed by everything else.

The Shiba’s face softens, eyes filling with warmth and lip tugging up; his friend is safe, protected, _home_.

Gaara achieved the very dream he had once held, back when he was Uzumaki Naruto, and he is flourishing from it. It brings that tug of his lips into something more like a small smile. He takes a step back, legs no longer shaking; if he leaves now he could still trail the blonde’s residual spiritual energy and track him back to Akatsuki’s base. Perhaps he could find Shukaku and the rest of the tailed beasts he hadn’t been able to save from Akatsuki’s clutches - as few as that is.

Besides, he doesn’t belong here, not in a moment like this - it feels almost like he is intruding on something. A moment for the living of this world, those connected to a village; not for him.

So he turns to leave, sandaled feet slipping silently over the grass. Turns to follow up on Akatsuki’s trail and perhaps have a better idea of what is going on - what they could need all the tailed beasts for. (Kurama had mentioned that when they combined the tentails is formed, but Kaien has the nagging feeling something else is going on as well). The Soul King said he was needed in this world and defending it from this organization is the only thing he could think would require his abilities.

He is weaving through the last of the Suna-nin when a shout burst out behind him. One that sounds distinctly like his name.

He turns, only to come face to face with a glaring Uchiha, “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Shiba?”

He raises an eyebrow, because _really_ he would have thought that some of the boy’s arrogance would have waned in time. He ignores the snort of the fox inside him - the beast has always been biased when it comes to Uchiha, and more recently the snobbish noble clansmen of Soul Society. (Although Kaien can agree with the fox on the later, and the distinct resemblance in looks and mannerism that this Uchiha has to a certain noble family makes Kaien want nothing more than to push his buttons). “Well…” he could tell them about how the blond is still alive, but that would require answering too many questions and even more suspicion about why he didn’t say anything earlier. So instead he purses his lips as if in thought, looking to the sky and letting out a pensive noise. “I hear Wave is nice this time of year.”

“You can’t just leave,” the boy grinds out.

“Why?” He asks, voice daring. “The Kazekage is alive and safe, my purpose here is done.”

“You helped?” A voice calls out, the crowd around them parting to reveal the redheaded Kazekage struggling to his feet on shaky limbs. Kaien can see - sense really, but the picture is clear enough - the way his soul is straining to adjust to limbs dead mere minutes ago. The Shinigami shunpos forward, hand going under the man’s elbow and sending a pulse of calming reishi through his system. It settles the last of the stitches, allowing the man to stand properly without as much trouble.

“Yes, he helped us fight the Akatsuki,” Sakura speaks up when he doesn’t. “He also lent his chakra to Lady Chiyo when she didn’t have enough.”

Gaara eyes him, body tired, but gaze calculating.

He nods at the previous question, confirming the pinket’s statement, but his eyes skitter over to look at the body of the elderly woman clutched in Sakura’s arms, “But I didn’t help as much as her. She gave her life for you.”

Teal eyes flicker back over to Lady Chiyo’s prone form, his face solemn and lips thinned. “We will have a moment of silence for Lady Chiyo’s sacrifice,” the leader calls out, commanding in a way Kaien doubts he has to be - there is no one here that wouldn’t wish to give their respects.

He, himself, lets his eyelids flutter shut; the image of her soul disappearing as soon as it leaves her body skittering through his mind.

It is the woman’s younger brother that takes her, movements gentle and face lax in both sorrow and exception of what has happened. (Yet, there is also a sparkle in the man’s eyes as he looks at her).

* * *

 

“I would like to thank you,” the Kazekage tells him bluntly but not unkindly.

He scratches the back of his head, giving a smile that he hopes comes off less awkward than he thinks it does. “Really, there’s no need.”

“You helped save my life,” the Kazekage starts but Kaien is quick to jump on the potential out he sees.

“So did everyone else.”

“And they will be thanked for their actions,” his teal eyes are made of steel as he continues without hesitation enough for Kaien to interrupt again. “Surely there is some way I can thank you?”

Kaien is tempted to say no, to tell the Kage that he doesn’t need any thanks for such an act, but the words get stuck in his throat. Alongside the swelling memories of a lonely redhead with no knowledge of family or love, of a friendship forged through a therapeutic beat-down during an invasion that marked the start of something bigger. Alongside his want to see Suna, to spend more time in these people’s presence, even if he doesn’t have much of a place among them. But the Soul King sent him here with a purpose, and although taking Akatsuki out is what he has found it be there might be something he is missing. He should be searching for that too. Yet his mouth won’t form the words to politely decline the man’s offer.

Won’t because he can feel the heart between them, the heart that has formed through his current actions and those he committed in the past (although the latter is only known by him to be actions taken by a soul not-so-dead).

He doesn’t know what to do.

_“Just keep moving, and follow your heart.”_

He holds in a snort, because _of course_ that is what his lovely Nejibana would fall back on. Something she has near hammered into his head. Just keep moving, never give up. Don’t go back; _especially_ on your word. Follow your heart.

“Actually, I would like to spend some time in Suna,” he says with a half-shrug, trying to repress a sheepish smile but he is sure the feeling reflects heavily in his eyes. “I’ve never visited before.”

Gaara agrees.

And Kaien basks in the moment of swelling excitement building from the base of his chest and twirling up into his neck only to force a blinding smile onto his face. He doesn’t plan on staying long, only a day or two. And although that isn’t nearly enough time to actually explore the entire village it will give him a nice rest before moving onto his next target. (By now it matters little if he tracks Deidara back to the base; the spiritual energy won’t linger for much longer and he gets the feeling that a member of the Akatsuki wouldn’t be that stupid as to return immediately).

“I will have my brother give you a personal tour,” Gaara continues, and Kaien knows that is more for keeping an eye on him that it is for any true thankfulness. Because he is still technically an unknown in motivation and power, it is only in shinobi nature to be wary.

**_“Don’t kid yourself, kit. Your precious Shinigami would be doing the same,”_** Kurama huffs in his mind.

“Thank you,” Kaien says instead of responding to his resident biju.

“Hang on,” a voice calls out as the same girl who had been at the gates muscles her way through the crowd to stand by Gaara. “You’re the one who said he wanted to see Gaara.”

The Kazekage raises a questioning brow, “You wanted to see me? Why?”

Kaien rubs the back of his head, “Well, you see…”

_‘Nejibana, any bright ideas?’_

_“The truth.”_

“It’d be better to talk about it in private.”

The redhead nods easily enough, “We can head to my office when we return.”

“Oh, no you won’t,” the blonde girl grinds out.

“Temari-“

“Don’t say another word, you _died_ Gaara. You are going right to the hospital! You can talk to him once you’re cleared.”

They move to return to Suna soon after, the convoy moving at a slower rate for those who had spent most of their chakra on fighting and trying to stay alive.

That exhaustion doesn’t, apparently, mean that he gets out of another round of twenty-questions.

“Hatake-san,” he greets when the man moves - supposedly subtly - to walk next to him.

“Maa, Kakashi is fine. Hatake makes me feel old,” the man offers an eye-smile, to which Kaien pointedly looks at his hair.

“Oh, I just thought… you know with your grey hair and all…” Kaien says, fighting down a teasing grin.

“It’s _silver_.”

Kaien hums, “Whatever you say, Kakashi-jii.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m not even thirty yet, Shiba-kun.”

“And I’m a hundred and fifty-three,” Kaien snips back, eyes shining in mirth because that _is_ his real age, not that the Hatake will ever believe it. He continues before the retort on the shinobi’s lips can be spoken, “And just call me Kaien.”

He hums, “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer your other title?” Kaien slides his eyes sideways; so Kakashi doesn’t believe he has been using his real name. “It’s quiet dramatic, don’t you think,” the Hatake continues, “being called Uzushio’s Ghost.”

“It’s not like I got a choice, Copy-nin” he snorts his amusement.

“You could have gone somewhere else. Home, perhaps?”

“You’re not being particularly subtle for a shinobi.”

“And you’re not being particularly slow for a samurai.”

“Rukongai,” he tells the man, because it’s a meaningless name and he knows that they won’t stop pestering him until he relents.

“Never heard of it.”

“Didn’t expect you to.”

“Is that where you learned those jutsu?”

“What jut-“ he cuts himself off swiftly as he realizes what the man is referring to. “No. No I was taught them at the academy to join the Gotei thirteen.”

(Meaningless. Meaningless. _Meaningless._ He’s not going to lie; he’s never been the best at it, always worn his emotions on his sleeve. However much it hurts to see the lack of recognition, the lack of understanding in their eyes as he says these places he knows it’s for the best).

“They seem…”

“Powerful?” Kaien offers, with a nod. “But not very efficient. Unless you practice them relentlessly you need to say an incantation first. And in battle it’s not like an opponent will wait.”

“No, I suppose they won’t.” He says with acted consideration, “And with how they rely on spiritual energy they must be very draining.”

He really hates geniuses.

_“You were considered a genius yourself.”_

_‘Only because I already had some training and contact with you and Kurama.’_

He shrugs at the Hatake, “It’s just how I was taught. I’d tell you to ask one of my sensei why but they’re all dead.”

_‘Not exactly a lie,’_ he thinks. And partially a ploy to get the shinobi to stop talking about the topic, because while death is common to a ninja’s life it is still a more sensitive subject to touch on. Uncomfortable, really, and he feels no remorse using that to his advantage.

It works. Kakashi letting out a hum of acknowledgment before retrieving his preferred form of literature from his flack-jacket and proceeding to bury his face in the book.

“Are you reading porn?” Kaien question, lilting his tone to incredulous because he _knows_ that a reaction to this quirk is highly expected.

“Maa, it’s not just porn, there’s plot.”

Kaien raises a skeptical eyebrow - he knows Jiraiya, had studied under him and although not all those memories are entirely there he can recall the man’s perverted nature and habit of spying on bathhouses for ‘research’. And with Ero-sennin as the author to the particular book he highly doubts it’s much else than sex scenes.

“If you don’t believe me I’ll lend you-“

He cuts the man off with a sharp shake of his head, “Kami no! I’m not a pervert like you,” he huffs and crosses his arms. “Besides, Miyako wo-“ his voice chokes, throat strangling his words as he sees her charging at him and the way she held off the hollow’s possession just enough to not kill him. As he sees her death.

“Miyako?” Kakashi tilts his head, sharp grey orb observing him.

“My wife,” he gets out in a whisper, hand clenching as he thinks on how he had failed to properly repay her killer for what they had done. How he had forced Rukia and his taichou to be the victims of his selfish request.

“She’s dead.” The words come blunt and harsh in the air between them. They sting worse than any sword or hollow’s attack, cutting deep and squeezing his heart with enough force to stop it entirely. It has been three years. _Only_ three years since her death. It’s still so achingly fresh. So devastatingly fresh; just like she is - _was_ \- so devastatingly lovable.

Two signatures ripple through him at that moment, their presence calming and sympathetic for his loss.

_“We’re here for you, my flower.”_

**_“Always, kit.”_ **

* * *

 

 The rest of the journey becomes a blur, his mind still in the throes of his loss despite his best efforts and those of his teammate’s to draw him back out. He knows that three years is a long time relative to these human’s life times, but in terms of a Shinigami’s it’s barely the blink of an eye.

A Suna ANBU leads him to the room he will be staying in, the décor plain and yet calming in colour and surprisingly cool for how hot the air is outside. He more than appreciates the opportunity to wash off the sand and sweat stuck in his hair and on his skin from not only the fight itself but the return trip. He leans forward, removing his black sandals and the white wrappings that keep his standard shinobi black pants tight against his lower calves.  Next his white silken cloth that wraps around his waist to hold his sword. Nejibana comes unwrapped easily enough and he places her delicately at his side; within easy reach.

He pulls his shirt over his head, the design simple in the front with a higher collar that crinkles as if acting like a scarf. He looks down at the piece of sleeveless clothing, turning it over in his hand and tracing his family’s crest slowly where it is stitched proudly in a deep blue.

His short-sleeved fishnet shirt is just being placed aside when there is a knock on his door. Rising to his feet the Shiba moves towards the sound, not even surprised when he opens the wooden structure to find an ANBU. Although he finds it on the stranger side as the Kage shouldn’t have been released just yet.

“Shiba-san, I have been ordered to escort you to the hospital to check for any injuries.”

“I assure you I’m fine,” Kaien shakes his head. Images of the fourth division captain and her chillingly sweet smile sends a spike of definitely-not-fear through him. “But give Kazekage-sama thanks for the concern.”

“Kaien-kun, that’s quiet rude don’t you think?” Kakashi’s voice fills the settling silence - _of course it’s Kakashi._ “The Kazekage only wants to make sure you’re healthy.”

Kaien gives the man a flat look, “How ironic for you to be talking about etiquette.”

Kakashi looks up from his book as he comes into view of the door, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Kaien-kun.” The man continues, this time his one-eyed gaze set on the Suna ANBU. “You can tell the Kazekage that I’ll be escorting Kaien-kun to the hospital.”

The ANBU leaves without bothering to hear his protests. Not holding in his snort of both amusement and annoyance Kaien opens the door wider for the Hatake to enter. “Drop the ‘kun’.” He grabs one of the scrolls from his pouch before dropping that onto his pile of clothes as well, “I’ll be out in five.”

The bathroom door locks with a click and he lets out a near-silent sigh; seeing Gaara again, and confronting his old sensei has been stressful. Turning away from the door he quickly strips out of his last articles of clothing - leaving everything else in the main room was by no means an act of trust towards the jounin. He has no doubt that the man is going through his things right now, but he has no worry for it - the seals he uses are Shinigami seals. That is to say, they rely purely on spiritual energy. No matter how well trained a shinobi is or how much chakra control they have they won’t be able to open them.

The shower starts with a burst of water, cool against his still over-heated skin, trickling over tight muscles and massaging into his scalp with its high-pressure release. He has always loved water, the feeling of it, the look of it, and his zanpakuto reflects that. ‘The greatest water-type’ they called it, Nejibana had preened when she heard such praise. And mixed with Kurama’s fire and wind… Well, he made for quiet the deadly Shinigami.

It’s with regret that he leaves the comfort of the shower to dry and dress, but he had said five minutes and he means to stick to that timeline.

He leaves the bathroom, swiftly going about strapping on his sword and resealing his dirtied clothes before wrapping his pouch against his leg. The last thing to pull on is his sandals and then he is moving to the door without a word with his recently gained stalker following behind.

Kakashi leads the way to the hospital, their companionship silent and slightly tense as they weave through the bustling streets and down alley-ways. The village is as alive and colourful as he had glimpsed earlier that day, and he can’t help himself but to look around as they walk, taking in the shocking reds and yellows, the dulled greens and warmer blues. The way the sun bounces off the buildings and how the people take the heat in stride.

The hospital is impressive, Kaien concedes, and as they enter the nurse running the front desk wastes no time sending them into an examination room - obviously expecting them.

“There you are!” The sound of his once-upon-a-time pink-haired teammate rattles through the walls, her green eyes poisonous as they stare down at both of them. (Kaien takes a moment to wonder how it’s possible for her to stare _down_ at them when she is clearly shorter, but quickly dismisses the thought). “You two were supposed to be here a half-hour ago!”

“Well, you see Sakura-chan-“

A gloved hand and pair of narrowed eyes shuts him up, “Just get in the room. I don’t want to hear one of your lame excuses.”

“My excuses aren’t lame,” Kakashi sniffs, but complies with her order all the same.

_‘Some things never change,’_ he smiles softly.

“And you, Shiba-san,” he turns to look at the pinket.

“Yes?”

“Strip.”

There’s a moments pause as the word sinks in.

He promptly blanches, incredulous tone rising high, “What?!”

“Strip,” she says, hands on her hips. “It’s easier to give a check-up when I can see what I’m working with.”

“But…” he furrows his brows. “You’re a Konoha medic.”

“Yeah, and?” The girl demands, eyes sparking, “Are you saying I’m incompetent?”

Kaien quickly backtracks, arms flailing in front of him as flashbacks to what Unohana-taichou does to misbehaving and disrespectful patients takes over the forefront of his thoughts. “No! I just thought it would be a Suna medic.”

“Kazekage-sama asked me to take care of you,” she tells him stiffly, “now _strip,_ or I’ll make you!”

He does as asked, hiding his fond smile behind the removal of his shirt - Sakura wouldn’t be Sakura without a shorter fuse than most now would she?

By the time he is in nothing but his underwear the pinket has already started running green-tinged hands over him. Kaien isn’t even surprised by the confused look on her face.

“You…” She trails off, voice uncomprehending.

“Don’t have any physical energy,” he finishes for her. Because he doesn’t. Or, well, he _does_ but none of which he can actually access and not nearly as much as a shinobi or civilian should.

“But that doesn’t… That shouldn’t be…” she draws her hands away and looks him up and down. “How are you alive? I’ve never heard of this kind of kekkai genkai.”

The perfect out. “You wouldn’t have.”

“It’s why you can use those jutsu without dying,” Kakashi concludes easily. Kaien gives a confirming nod.

“Are there others like you?” Sakura questions, her eyes shining with what he recognizes as curiousity and a medic’s need to understand, “You said you were the head of a clan, right?”

“Aa,” he says with a nod, trying to keep his face neutral. “But they’re… not here.”

“Where-“ the pinket starts before her muscles go slack, “oh. I’m sorry-“

He holds up a hand, shaking his head while grabbing for his shirt. “It’s alright, you didn’t know.”

She nods before eyeing him further, stance shifting and suddenly she is not only a medic but a shinobi. “Other than your lack of physical energy you show no sign of injury,” she concludes, penciling a few things onto a clipboard. “You’re free to go.”

“Thank you, Haruno-san,” he gives a small bow of his head, long since understanding that respecting a medically inclined individual is best for one’s health. Before, without allowing for a heartbeat of time more to pass, he shunpos out of the open window and onto the adjacent rooftop. He has no intentions of letting Kakashi follow him again, more because he wishes to meditate than anything else - and being disturbed during that time is not exactly pleasant.

He doesn’t even bother to pause on the rooftop, already speeding to the next and the next until he is outside the building he is spending his nights in. Logic dictates that his room is too obvious a place to take refuge but he knows that Gaara will be calling for him and it would be best to be in a known area.

Sinking onto the bed Kaien readies himself, setting his body into the position of jinzen, calming his breathing and clearing his mind. He doesn’t intend to enter his mindscape, instead focusing on his flow of reishi and letting the feel of the world around him take over his senses. It is calming, lets his muscles relax further, lets the stress melt away.

It’s also how he’s able to sense the presence of the ANBU a few hours later, no doubt coming to escort him to the Kazekage’s office. He follows easily enough, more relieved than he will ever show that Kakashi isn’t waiting to follow as well. Perhaps he realizes his bounds politically more than Kaien thought.

(He really needs to start giving the man more credit, if there is anyone who can figure him out it’s Kakashi. He hadn’t been able to realize it when he was a genin but Kakashi is a prodigy, a genius, and one of the best ninja Konoha has. Underestimating him will be a grave mistake).

“Kazekage-sama,” the ANBU bows as they enter the office, Kaien following suit although his is a more relaxed incline of the head. “I have brought Shiba-san.”

“Thank you, you are dismissed,” the ANBU gives one more bow before shunshining away to shadows of the room. Teal eyes fall on him then, “Shiba-san, please take a seat.”

Two steaming cups of tea are settled on the desk, one for each of them, and although Kaien would love to indulge in the moment and take a sip he knows that the cup could be more than it seems.

“What is it you wished to talk with me about?”

“Truthfully,” Kaien starts with a shrug. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” And the Shiba would bet the redhead would be raising an eyebrow if he had any.

“I was being chased by Konoha ANBU and decided to head to Suna to lose them,” he explains. “When I arrived everything was… strange,” he decides to say. “I wanted to know why, so I figured it would be best to say I needed to see someone important to get access to the village.”

There are many ways he could have gone about this; for example, claiming that he had valuable information on the attack but had come too late in giving it. But that would require giving away the fact he has a network of spies, and he would rather not give away so blatantly how large it really is.

So; the truth.

“But I sensed something big... that felt like a biju,” Kaien continues, even as he feels the shifting of the ANBU and is subject to the narrowing of teal orbs. “I’ve been tracking the Akatsuki for a while now, and I’ve found that anything doing with a biju tends to lead back to them.”

“So you crossed an entire desert in minutes and fought off an Akatsuki member before helping bring me back to life,” Gaara finished, his voice cool.

“I figured it would gain less suspicion if I told you in private,” he gives a one shouldered shrug.

“Why come to Sunagakure? You do realize we are allies with Konoha?”

“Your village was the closest that hasn’t been trying to kill me,” he says flatly, face deadpan.

Silence settles for a moment, the Kazekage lifting the cup of tea to his lips before replying, “I see,” the cup clicks softly against the wooden table. “The council will want to speak with you about remaining here.”

“How annoying, a bunch of idiots past their time trying to tell me what to do,” he grumbles, face twisting into a scowl for a moment, and he can see the sympathy reflecting in the Kage’s eyes at his plight.

“They won’t convene until tomorrow at noon,” the Kage informs him, to which Kaien offers a thankful grin that is part mischief and part reckless relief. He just has to be out of the village by then.

“It seems I’ll miss my tour.”

“I’ll give my brother your regrets.” Gaara’s eyes a bright as well, and Kaien can’t help but think the entire aesthetic looks good on him. With the Kage hat laid on the edge of his desk, the robes draped over his shoulders with weighted responsibility. He looks _happy_.

“Thank you for your time, Kazekage-sama,” he stands giving an incline of his head with a smile that he can’t repress.

“It was my pleasure, Shiba-san.”

With that he leaves through the window, jumping from its height and enjoying the feeling of the wind through his clothes and hair as the ground comes up to meet his feet, a cushion of reishi an inch above the packed sand ensuring his lack of injury.

* * *

 

 “Get the red one,” Kakashi’s voice interrupts his browsing of the stall.

He does not jump, nor does he stutter to stop himself from immediately attacking. He _does not yelp_. No matter _what_ Kurama’s bolstering laughter may suggest.

“Kakashi,” he scowls. “What do you want?”

“Aren’t you supposed to have an escort?” He blinks at the Shiba innocently, ignoring the question and looking around pointedly.

Kaien holds in a snort, there is no way the jounin doesn’t sense the ANBU in the shadows. So it’s a test; to see if _he_ can sense them.

“We both know what you’re doing,” he tells the man, turning his attention away from the Hatake and continuing to look at the silken sword belts.

“Enlighten me.”

He gives the man a flat look, or tries at least, because that eye-smile is _infuriating._ He stalks to the next stall, slipping into the crowd and shoving his spiritual energy down as much as possible in the hopes of leaving the man behind. It doesn’t work.

_‘He’s like a particularly stubborn bur,’_ Kaien complains only to have his companions laugh at him.

“Will you leave me alone,” he snaps as the man appears next to him _again._

A grey eye blinks at him, “I’m just enjoying a walk through the market.”

“If you’re going to be annoying,” he all but growls, “at least make yourself useful.” At which point he shoves two of his four bags into the man’s hand, packaged with a new (red) belt and a handful of weapons. He walks away without waiting for a response, knowing all too well that the Hatake will follow because he clearly wants _something_ and Kaien is pretty sure he hasn’t gotten it just yet.

Two more stalls and a box of dango later he leads them out of the market area, bustling and full of life and unwanted eavesdroppers. (Which, for the fact it is almost sunset, is entirely surprising). Weaving around stalls and through alleyways, towards a spot in the distance that he can feel the muddle of souls thinning.

It doesn’t take long, especially when he moves into a lazy shunpo over the rooftops. What his feet land in he can only conclude is a training ground, scanning the area with his eyes and reishi he can easily find remnants of jutsu and weapons. The few trees that dart the landscape are charred and have gashes in their trucks, a few small craters that have been sloppily filled in dot the edges of the sandy patch. With all the grace of an exhausted kitten Kaien slumps to a seated position, laying his bags in front of him to begin sealing the newly bought resources. (Mostly nonperishable foods and weaponry).

“So how do you like Suna?”

“I’ve been here for less than a day.”

“Maa, I’m just trying to make conversation.”

“I didn’t realize Konoha considers that synonymous with interrogation.”

“I had no idea you were so paranoid, Kaien-kun. Or is it just me?”

“It’s just you.”

“Am I that intimidating?”

“More like obvious.”

The man snorts, “That coming from a samurai.”

“I’m not a samurai,” he sighs out, sealing the last of his acquired goods. “You just assumed I was.”

“Why say something now?”

“Because there are only so many times you can be compared to the daimyo’s guard and take it.”

The Hatake nods sagely, as if he has experienced the situation himself. (Perhaps he has, Kaien muses, with how many missions Kakashi has taken on it’s likely he has had a few undercover ones as well).

“You should be resting,” Kaien comments, letting his reishi scan over the soul next to him. “You’re exhausted.”

“And how, pray-tell, do you know that?”

“Your spiritual energy.”

“So you’re a sensor?”

“You know twenty-questions goes both ways.”

“I thought this was an interrogation.”

“Well, it would be, but you’re not very good at it.”

“Maa, maa, no need to start insulting.”

“I’m not insulting you,” Kaien gives the man a sideways look, eyes half lidded and head tilted slightly down, “I’m describing you.”

“For a puppy you have quiet the bark,” Kakashi eye-smiles, “But can you bite?”

“Puppy?!” He exclaims, indignation running rampant over his expression, but disappearing soon after. “Gah, whatever,” he flops back against the ground as the sun is finally swallowed by the horizon. “Let’s just get on with it,” suddenly his eyes light up. “I’ll answer your questions as best I can, but I’m’a ask you questions too, ‘kay?”

“That’s not how an interrogation works.”

Kaien twists his head to look up at him, “I thought we agreed this wasn’t an interrogation?”

“I’m not telling you village secrets.”

“Obviously,” he chuckles, turning his gaze back up to the sky.

“What’s your tattoo mean?”

“Is that a yes?” Kaien raises an eyebrow, not even bothering to wait for an answer, “It’s my family crest.”

“You tattooed your family crest on your arm?”

“Family’s important to me,” he absently traces the design. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Really?”

“ _Silver,_ my hair is _silver._ ”

“Hmmm, alright I believe you.”

“I am honored,” the man snarks, sarcastic tone meeting with a flat stare that burns into Kaien’s teasing smile. “What is the Gotei thirteen?”

“A military organization,” he tells him simply.

“Where’s it located?”

“That’s two questions,” he argues lightly. “And they’re… not here. How does your hair stay like that?”

“It’s natural.”

“There is no way your hair just _naturally_ defies gravity,” Kaien gripes.

“You said you were a lieutenant of the thirteenth, what does that mean?”

“There are thirteen divisions, each with their own specialties, and I was the second in charge of the thirteenth. Although,” he laughs (it comes out with a tinge of hollow sadness that tastes like shared tea and worried questions of health), “with how sick my captain was I basically ran it.”

“Then why did you leave?”

Kaien’s muscles tighten in a jerky rush of pain, the memory of having that hollow in him coming back full force - and although between him and his companions they had been able to gain control again it had all been too late. Too late to save Rukia from his selfish act, too late to save his taichou the pain of losing another subordinate.

He can feel Nejibana and Kurama clap down viciously on his reishi, no doubt worried about him releasing any in his panic.

“I didn’t betray them if that’s what you want to know,” he grinds past his clenched throat. “Someone else did and-“ he grits his teeth. He is sure that if he were to open his eyes they would be the bright blue of reishi.

“You became collateral,” Kakashi says the words so easily, as if they don’t encompass not only his own death but the death of his wife as well. Silence settles between them then, Kaien not in the right mind nor the mood to ask another question. But Kakashi doesn’t seem to hold the same sentiment.

“I saw you that day,” the man comments as if talking of the weather. “Well, I say your retreat, but you have the same energy.”

“You’ll need to be more specific,” Kaien murmurs.

“Don’t play dumb now, Kaien-kun,” the words are sing-song but the warning is all too clear.

“I didn’t kill him,” he explains evenly, meeting the suspicious grey eye. “He was dead when I arrived, I checked his pulse and then left when I felt your rei-chakra.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care. It’s the truth,” he lifts himself from the ground to a seated position. “I haven’t killed a single shinobi.”

“Then where did you hide the body?”

Kaien freezes, eyes going wide before his brows furrow in confusion, “What?”

“There was no body when I arrived.”

The Shiba is on his feet with his sword blocking a kunai before his heart can even beat.

“And I never said he was dead,” Kakashi eye-smiles.

“I didn’t take his body, and I didn’t kill him,” he emphasizes.

“No,” Kakashi hums. “You didn’t, but your fellow Akatsuki members did.”

“My fellow-“ he gets cut off as he blocks another attack, ducking under a round-house kick and pulling back to create space. “I’m not working for the Akatsuki!”

“There’s no point in hiding it, _Kaien-kun._ Your covers blown.”

Kaien lets out a frustrated growl before promptly slicing his hand open and hold Nejibana in front of him. It’s for the best to end this as quickly as possible.

_“My flower, what are you-“_

“I swear on my sword that I am not an Akatsuki member. I swear on my pride that I did not kill him. I swear on my honor that I did not take his body,” his shadowed gaze meets another in a war of wills and beliefs.

“Hokage-sama wants to speak to you,” Kakashi lowers his kunai, tucking it away to wherever its hiding spot resides.

“You believe me?” Kaien questions, trying to keep his relief and hope out of his voice, hoping that his still simmering frustrated anger will be enough to cover it up.

“No,” the man says bluntly. “But Tsunade-sama won’t be happy if I return with your body instead.” Kaien lets out a laugh, wiping his sword onto a cloth he keeps in his pouch before sheathing it. The cut has already healed, although the blood will remain as evidence of his skin’s sacrifice.

“I’ll think about it,” Kaien tells the Hatake. And he will, think about it that is. Maybe if he hadn’t become tentative allies with Orochimaru he would have jumped on the offer – because surely the village doesn’t know about that if they are offering. But they might know and are _still_ wanting to talk. Besides, thinking back, seeing Jiraiya in two towns in one month’s time was in no way a coincidence.

“We leave tomorrow at dawn,” the silver-haired shinobi informs him before a fluttering set of leaves replaces him, leaving Kaien in the empty training grounds to stare at the expanse of stars alone.


	3. First month

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s good to see you, my lovely readers!
> 
> I don’t think I’ll be doing a pairing for this story. Or, at least, I won’t be putting Kaien with a Konoha shinobi. But that is as far as I’ve decided with that so far - I’ll be sure to keep you all updated and if you have any ideas please feel free to share them. (It can be a character of any gender, btw).
> 
> Anyway, onto the chapter! Hope you enjoy and please review!

 

It’s raining.

The chilling strike of water droplets splatter heavy through the canopy of thick branches and delicate leaves. Shaking the very foundations with rolling waves of thunder that shatter spectacular bursts of light into the grey monotonous environment.

Mud builds up under the decaying plants and scattered rocks decorating the forest floor, thick and squelching with every step he takes.

It’s raining.

Just like it had when he died mere hours ago - was it hours, though? He isn’t sure, all he can remember is the way Rukia’s sword felt like a blessing as it ripped open his chest. The way his last words tasted like blood and a weak thank you; the way he could feel the great nine tail’s grief. All he can remember is the bright light, the blinding strike much like the lightening that cuts through the sky now.

But no sense of timing.

He can’t say for sure how long he spent in that place. The one with white walls and white ceilings and endless expanses of space unexplored because something told him not to move. It may have been minutes, hours, years. He doesn’t know.

But what he does know is that it was the Soul King who put him there, the Soul King that came after countless time, voice booming and face hidden under a cloak of shadows so deep Kaien would have believed it was the void.

“Shiba Kaien,” and for a moment he could only think that they sounded almost… sad. “Or should I call you Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto?”

The name sounded odd after so long of disuse, almost detachable. But it was still _his._ And some tucked-away part of his soul sang at the sound.

It’s raining.

Just like the day he died. Just like the day _she_ died, the day he disappointed his captain, the day he forced a burden onto Rukia.

_“It’s raining.”_

He is a water-type, heralded as the greatest. But even his lovely, willful, reckless zanpakuto spirit doesn’t love the element enough to allow herself to be drenched in it.

It’s raining.

Because he wasn’t strong enough, he wasn’t able to defeat that hollow without the help of his sword or Kurama. Wasn’t willful enough to push the stubborn spirit out of his body, wasn’t capable of saving his wife from that fate. His dearly loved Miyako, who must be so disappointed to have her heart lost in the expanse of Soul Society, to have no one there to carry her on - to not have _Kaien_ there to carry her heart on.

She died alone. And _that_ above all other facts hurts the most.

She would be even more disappointed in him if she knew he was wallowing so pitifully in his grief.

Because he couldn’t be the hero that Miyako needed, couldn’t be the hero Soul Society needed (had left too soon to inform anyone of Aizen’s illusions). And in his first life he hadn’t been the hero that Konoha needed.

But no. No, he will not let another feel what he feels now, will not become overtaken by this sorrow. Won’t let it consume him, or embitter him. He will get _stronger,_ get _better._ Because maybe Naruto wasn’t the hero for this world, and maybe Kaien wasn’t the hero for his.

But perhaps, just maybe, half of both will be enough to stop whatever power the Soul King spoke of. He may not be the Child of Prophecy, and he may no longer be a true Shinigami; but he has at least half a hero in him, somewhere, and he prays that is enough.

No.

He will make sure that is enough.

It’s raining.

But as he lifts his face to let the water rush over him it only feels cleansing.

The cave he finds to claim temporary residence of is shallow at best. Cold with water encroaching into half of it, and barely enough height for him to duck in. But it will do, will last him the night and keeps him out of the weather until he can find more permanent lodging. Preferably somewhere defendable and with a large enough space to train - he has put off achieving bankai for so long now, with no intentions of taking his taichou’s position and little want to transfer to another division he hadn’t seen a point.

But now he is faced with no choice, and he finds that perhaps that is okay.

He will need to set up barrier seals, because the amount of power that a bankai lets out is near drowning - it would alert everyone within the elemental nations that something has come; that something has happened. (If not by direct sensing of his release then by the scouts and patrols and rumors no doubt to transfer the information). And as he plans to start working on using Kurama’s reishi alongside his own and his zanpakuto’s those barriers may not even hold back everything.

Enough, maybe, but not everything.

Which means he will have nations coming after him, nations that he has no intention of joining or being killed by anytime soon. And as much as the thought of Konoha brings back a wave of nostalgic sweetness that rush of emotions is so sweet that it becomes sad, a bitter taste that sits below his neck like a great moth fluttering over his heart. It makes him smile wistfully at the times that have passed and as more and more fragile memories flicker behind his eyes they become overlapped by those he has more recently made - those with his family and his division in Soul Society. He may have been a shinobi of leaf once upon a time, but now he is a Shinigami of the Gotei Thirteen and he doesn’t plan on trading the title anytime soon.

He has no intentions of going back to Konoha as a leaf on her tree.

Which means he will need to make it on his own; will need to find shelter, food, and clothes. All of that will need to be bought with money he… doesn’t currently have.

He holds in a sigh, he’ll figure that out in the morning, when the sound of a thunder storm isn’t putting him to sleep.

* * *

 

 Morning comes crisp with a chill that send shivers running over his exposed skin, his sandals are mud caked and his clothes are in tattered ruins from both his dying fight and arrival. Which means his first order of business is figuring out a way to make money. In other words, he needs to find a town.

It wouldn’t be so difficult… if he actually remembered the geography of this place that is. He’s been gone for so long - seriously a hundred and fifty years is a while - that he can’t really remember where everything is. Where the different hidden villages are, nor where the country borders separate lands. Can’t seem to pull up anything beyond a few names like Konohagakure, Suna, and Wave.

Not entirely helpful if he is being honest.

So he walks.

Walks until he finds a road and then expands his senses as far as they will go in order to find an area with a large pocket of spiritual energy. The first two places that he comes across are small and the merchants only point him in the direction of the next town when he asks for a map. It’s the third place that he comes upon where he finds what he needs. It’s a small town called Akamura, although it’s not like the people seem to wear much red or anything. They don more simple colours, deep blues and fuzzy browns that clash with worn yellows and mint greens.

There are no guards at its gates, nor walls to keep it protected, the people seem more based in surrounding farmland than they do in hunting or silk trades. The streets are fairly empty he notes as he continues his walk through the small farming community; no children running in the streets, only a few milling about or running errands. It’s almost… strange.

But they have a handful of shops lining what appears to be the main street and Kaien easily finds a map printed inside the first pages of an outdated bingo book. (A few months out of edition at best, but he doubts that it matters much for his purposes). He scans over the pages, trying to memorize as much as he can (not that it has always been his best skill mind you), before placing the green covered parcel back onto the merchants table.

(It seems he is in the eastern region of Fire Country, and that he had made his way north the night before, turning east to find the road and south to find this town that is a day’s walk from the coast).

“Traveler-san,” the man running the stall says softly, and it takes Kaien a moment to place the young voice to the frail body of the person before him. He had thought the man to be older in age. “It would be best if you don’t linger here today. Please, for your own safety, leave our town.”

“My own safety?” He repeats with a questioning tone, “Why?”

“Because you’re about to meet your end, _boy,_ ” a gruffly patronizing voice cuts through the air behind him moments after a weak burst of rei-chakra. (He needs to keep reminding himself, although the distinction is clear to his senses his immediate response is to title it with the same notion).

_‘Of course,’_ he thinks with a sigh, _‘just my luck.’_

**_“I say kill them and move on,”_** Kurama huffs, shifting his position to rest his head on his paws. **_“But you won’t let it be that simple, will you Kit?”_**

_‘Oh, you know me so well Kura-chan!’_ He sends the fox a teasing smile as the beast rages at the nickname.

He doesn’t kill them.

He just hurts them…

A lot. On their big, dumb heads.

Except he leaves the leader, because if he had knocked out that man first then he wouldn’t have been capable of witnessing the defeat of his men and understanding the futility of fighting. And also because Kaien takes a strange amount of pleasure at the look on the man’s face when he watches his strength crumble into sand. (It helps that he has longer brown hair and slimmer features - helps because it reminds him of a certain traitor).

He doesn’t even bother to draw his sword, just looks at the leader with a blinding, eye-closing grin, “Leave.” The word comes out light-hearted, “And don’t come back.”

Kaien has to give it to the man; he knows how to obey an order.

The merchant that had previously given him the warning sits with wide eyes the colour of tree-bark, and a hanging jaw. The clatter of the simple fight seemed to have drawn the attention of those people in the buildings that had been locked away - _hiding_ Kaien now understands. Women, children, and men come into the streets, hesitation clear in their eyes as if wondering whether or not Kaien will take the place of these so called ‘men’.

He watches as the last of the conscious men try to drag away those he had incapacitated, before turning back to the people slowly gathering with a purposefully sheepish grin, his hand going up to rub the back of his head while the other rests on his hip.

“Eh, sorry about that,” he tells him with a soft chuckle (it comes out dry with no true mirth). “I’m not looking for any trouble.”

“My boy,” an elderly man comes from the back of the crowd, his cane chipped and worn with weathered use. “You have not caused any trouble, you have saved us from it.”

He blinks at the man, feigning confusion even as his suspicions are confirmed. Those men had reis- _chakra_ , no matter how minimal (but was it minimal? Sure their spiritual energy was lower than most, they wouldn’t even make it to a seated officer position, but he needs to remember that spiritual aspects of their energy only covers half of it. If he recalls correctly they also have physical energy at their disposal). Either way, it means they can be considered shinobi of some sort and with their appearance and no obvious markings for a village they must have been missing-nin or bandits trained in the art of ninja.

Both options would spell bad news for a town such as this.

“Those men have been terrorizing this town for far too long,” the elderly man continues. “But we do not have the power to stand up to them,” and suddenly the man is on his knees in a traditional style Japanese bow that had Kaien scrambling forward with protests. “Please, stay for as long as you need as payment for your deed.”

Kaien reaches down, hooking his hand under a thin arm and helping the man back to his feet. The thought of a warm bed and meal is something nice - he has spent these past nights in trees and caves making meals of the forest creatures and the edible plants he could find. It would be nice to have a roof over his head at least for one night until he moves on, maybe more just to make sure those men actually don’t come back.

The family that takes him in is small and their house just as much, but it is homely and the little girl is wide-eyed with innocence running through her in waves. Questions fly at him from all directions as she scampers about the room in her excitement at having a guest. Kaien answers those that she gives him pause enough to interject, but most go without any explanation and even more are lost in a jumble of incomprehensible words.

“You are married,” the wife’s voice comes soft and almost unnoticeable against little Cho’s onslaught. She is placing dinner on the table, simple and mostly composed of rice but Kaien is more than grateful.

The question, however, catches him off guard.

“Your ring,” the wife explains, with a small gesture at his hands where he has been fingering the metal band on his finger unconsciously. He looks at it for a moment, staring at his last connections with Miyako and feeling a pain so sharp in his chest, so strangling that he can barely breath let alone find air enough to answer. He can feel the grief in him, for his own death and for his failure to avenge Miyako and the loss of her life that he cherished above all others. Feels it and tries desperately not to drown in it. But it must show on his face because suddenly there is a small gasp, a step back and the wife is spilling apologies, too late to silence her daughter.

“Is she pretty?”

“Yes,” Kaien murmurs, eyes caught up in the past. “She was beautiful, and very strong.”

“Can I meet her someday!?” The excitement bubbles higher and higher in the little girl’s voice.

“Maybe someday,” Kaien offers a small smile. “But let’s hope it’s not too soon.”

“What? Why not?” She pouts, lip protruding and eyes going wide while her cheeks puff out. Nejibana is practically swooning at how _‘cute and precious’_ she looks.

“Because she likes early bedtimes and no desert,” he leans forward with a conspiring whisper. It gets the results he wants; the girl squeals in horror, before ranting about why one should always be allowed to have a sweet treat after dinner.

“I’m sorry,” the wife tells him quietly; he won’t look at her, doesn’t want to see the look of pity he knows will be there.

Instead he only shakes his head, “It’s alright,” he tells her but it doesn’t feel like he is speaking at all. “You couldn’t have known.”

The husband enters then, either not caring or ignorant of the tension in the air. “Do you think they will return?” The man asks, and for a heartbeat Kaien thinks the man is referring to his beloved wife, but his teammates push the thought away enough for him to hear the husband’s next words. “Those men, will they come back for revenge?”

They do, of course, and just in time for Kaien to be waving goodbye to the small family of three that had so kindly housed him for his short stay. They come in a mass, weapons already drawn and scowls painted precisely onto their faces for maximum fear potential. Not that it does much to Kaien.

A bellow of the leader to attack rings loud and Kaien can only hold in a sigh - he doesn’t really feel like fighting these people, not that there is much of a choice, he can’t abandon the town’s folk now.

So he shunpos forward with sharp eyes (because no matter how weak an opponent is one needs to respect them), knocking them down once again without refrain - most of them not even shinobi this time. Probably scrounged up forces that could be found at the last minute.

As the last of them fall - the leader included this time - the merchant from his first day here comes forward with a stuttering step as if unsure if everything is safe or not.

“He’s a missing-nin, you know?” The man says quietly, looking down on the leader’s face with a pensive look that only comes across solemn with his sunken cheeks. “You could exchange him at a post not far from here for money.”

Kaien blinks, hand going up to scratch his cheek, “Really?” He eyed the man on the ground, he hadn’t thought much of whether he had a bounty on his head, and least of all whether he could profit off of such a thing. Wouldn’t such actions make him a “Bounty hunter…” the words fall from his lips and fill the air with potential. It would allow him to earn money and it would keep fellow travelers and other small villages from harm.

There may be no hollows in this world, but his skills can be of use in this.

He reaches out and drags the limp form over one shoulder with a grunt of effort - the man may be thin but he has packed pounds of muscle attached to all his bone.

“Where is this outpost?” Kaien asks shifting his weight to account for the extra body.

“Y-you’re leaving _now?_ But what about…” the merchants makes an awkwardly stilted gesture at the other bodies on the ground.

Kaien blinks down at them, “I should be back in time to see them off,” he gives reassuring smile that is all teeth.

“But the outpost… it’s two miles west of here,” the merchant protests.

Kaien shrugs as best he can, “Don’t worry, I’m pretty fast on my feet.”

“It’s straight past the mountain, my boy,” the village elder calls out as his cane taps a third step with his approach. He nods once and disappears in a puff of dust more for show than actual need.

The wind rushes past him with grabbing hands and caressing fingers, flowing through his hair with lingering bites of chill that sends pleasure down his spine on such a hot day. The outpost is where the merchant and elder spoke, easy to find and surprisingly easy to work everything out.

“Akamaru?” The Chunin on post scratches his nose, “The small farming village east of here?”

Kaien nods, “That’s the one.”

“Well… alright. If you’re sure you can’t-“

“I’m sure,” Kaien cuts the shinobi off as he starts to move towards the door, the sight of Konoha’s insignia making his stomach flutter with too many emotions to pinpoint. He gives a mock salute and shunpos away before anything more can be said - before they can even ask for a name, he had avoided the question smoothly earlier and has no intentions of giving them enough time to bring it back up.

He keeps true to his word, returning to the small town to help remove the rest of the intruders; mostly he just helps those who are fit enough move them into a clearing nearby with a warning letter or two to keep them from going after the town again.

The entire process takes two hours and Kaien is more than happy when it’s over; the quicker he gets on the road the quicker he gets to the next town - one that hopefully has open hot springs to wash away the sweat he feels building up.

He’s just stepping past the gates when a tug comes on his clothes, turning he looks down to find the daughter of the small family he had stayed with looking up at him with wide eyes and a worn green book held in small fists. The parcel is held out to him with a squeaky exclamation of, “Here! This is for you, Kaien-san!”

“As a thank you,” the elder calls out. “And so you can continue helping people like us.”

Blinking he looks from the elder back to the child in front of him, kneeling down to be at better level with the young girl he gives a soft smile, “Thank you, Cho-chan.” He reaches out and ruffles her hair softly, her squeals of protest going ignored.

“You’ll come to visit, right Kaien-san?” The child asks with one bright eye peaked open, her small hands resting over his own and stilling its movements.

Kaien feels his heart shake at the innocent request, but he makes sure his voice doesn’t waver with his answer, “I’ll try, Shrimp-chan.” He draws back his hand and rises to his feet, hiding the bittersweet smile that is trying to cut across his face.

* * *

 

 He walks the ruins, eyes softly taking in what once must have been a glorious village but now all that stands is ruble crunching under his feet. He thinks he can picture it, if he tries, with the way the fading lines of blue and red decorating in brilliant patterns still cling to some of the more intact walls, the bright oranges of roof tiles, purples and hazing gleams of green. He thinks he could see it, if he tried; the way it would light up in warm yellows given off by lanterns, bright and welcoming. The taste of the sea on the wind that blows in, carrying a cool caress with it. Thinks he can see the streets filled with people, smiling and happy with too-big hearts and a closeness some of the larger villages could never truly grasp. Thinks he can see towering pillars with dancing seals colliding against each other in increasingly complicated manners the deeper into the fortress of red-hair and brash tempers one goes. Thinks he could picture it, if he tried. Could watch the ghosts of these people rise up again, the shade of their greatness demanding one last soul witness their peak of power in the laughter built streets and bursting markets. Thinks he could sense the overwhelming loss the old village feels at the lack of life.

He stops at the peak of the village, the towering great halls of their Kage’s office broken and crumbling around a once-great structure, the ceiling left open for the skies to look in with watching clouds and mourning stars. He looks out across the tumbling landscape and the sweeping seas, the dancing ruins crying out for lost souls.

“It’s perfect.” The words catch on the rustling wind and cascade down into the streets below.

This will be his shelter, his training area, his hunting grounds.

His tentative home.

Uzushiogakure.


	4. First fourteen months

 

“Again,” he calls out, sweat trickling over his brow and dripping from his chin. He attacks, his blade swirling out and meeting Nejibana’s. They engage in a dance of metal in his inner world, the fields of flowers that spot the area shifting softly along to the ringing music of their blades meeting.

He’s knocked back, tumbling a few feet away, breath scattering from his lungs with force as his back hits one of the few blossom trees that grow in his mindscape, only a few feet from falling into one of the many calmly flowing interconnected rivers that separate each grazing landmass.

“Again,” his zanpakuto spirit calls out commandingly, her stance threatening. He rises to his feet and starts their dance once more. Twice more. A thousand times more.

* * *

 

 “You should rest,” Nejibana tells him from where she is perched delicately against one of Uzushio’s runes. Her eyes resting on him as he goes through kata after kata after kata. The gaze is worried, if glimmering with approval and pride.

“In a little while,” he answers stubbornly. “There’s a patrol coming this way and I want to get through this set before I have to hide.” The seals may be able to hide him from sight, but that only works when he isn’t moving too much or with sudden motions.

His zanpakuto nods, “They are the third this month. They’re quiet persistent.”

“I know.”

* * *

 

 The town is bustling with people as he weaves down the mains street. Despite Uzushio having resources enough in the surrounding area for food and shelter there is nothing in way of clothes and the last set he bought it ruined from his recent training. So with what little money that remains from his last bounty (the shinobi was a chunin, and barely had any money on his head, but it got Kaien through the past few months and that has been enough). What he buys is simple and on the cheaper side, black without any defining features because he knows it’s better that way. They won’t last long as it is. Not with how hard he has been working to have Kurama sync with his bankai form.

He’ll buy something of better quality when he finally achieves that final form.

* * *

 

**“Get up, Kit,”** his resident biju prods him, tails swishing behind the towering beast as if one of them hadn’t _just_ flung him across his inner world.

Kaien groans as he pushes back to stumbling feet and trembling limbs. Exhaustion peaking, sore muscles and painful bruises making it harder and harder to concentrate on his training. It’s like nothing he has done before, even when he trained to achieve shikai, even when he trained to protect his family. None of that compares to the grueling nature of this. It’s something on a whole other level that leaves him near death each time it stops and even then it only stops for long enough to catch a lungful of air before flinging him back into the fire.

But he’s making progress, faster than he ever has before. It makes it worth it, makes it all worth it to know that he will never be as weak as he had when he let Miyako die.

* * *

 

He doesn’t know how long he has been here now, nor how long he has spent training (he trained a lot in his inner world and time flows differently there). But he does know that he has improved, vastly, having finally reached a synthesis between his bankai and biju mode - although it is tentative and won’t last long in battle, leaving him near exhaustion after it dispels. But at least he accomplished this much.

Kurama had said it would get better the more he used it, that the time would increase and he wouldn’t face such crippling affects. His synthesis with shikai is much more stable with a less detrimental degree of energy taken to achieve it, and able to hold as long as the battle lasts. It is simply not as… affective as his bankai form, but much better for multiple enemies.

He shakes himself from his thoughts, weaving through the streets after just having picked up his new clothes; more expensive and more options to be worn now tucked away in a sealing scroll in his pouch. Leaving Uzushio had left a bittersweet taste in his mouth, like green tea shared with Jushiro, the streets felt more like home than he had expected. And he doubts that he won’t ever go back; perhaps once he deals with whatever threat the Soul King has mentioned he can settle there.

Ducking past a few vendors Kaien waves to those he knows - a simple network, only reaching out to three towns in this area, but more than enough for what he needed during his time in whirlpool. Now, however, he will need to expand it. Although he will need to tread carefully as to not garner unwanted attention too quickly… Which, yeah, okay it’s a bit late for that he will admit. But he doesn’t want them knowing about _this_ yet.

He doesn’t let himself look back when he finally leaves the town, doesn’t let his heart take too much of this place with him.

The road is dusty with lack of rain and the sun beating a study rhythm of heat onto Kaien’s back. A hood is pulled up to shield his eyes and cover most of his features, although the deep grey cloak that it attaches to cuts off halfway down his torso, leaving his arms bear and tattoo visible.

He would travel faster, but he knows that moving in the trees won’t bring him any favors for trying to stay out of a shinobi’s eyesight, and moving along the road attracts the attention of bandits and missing-nin looking for easy targets so much more. Not that he is particularly looking for a fight, but he needs to make his money in some way. (By now he knows the location of every bounty outpost in fire country and up through cloud. It has earned him a reputation’ between that and his appearance in Uzushio they have dubbed him her ghost. As if that is all she could ever have anymore, all she could ever be - a phantom of what once was, and perhaps that is true because Kaien is not capable of rebuilding an entire village but that doesn’t mean she can’t once more be a home).

Hours. He walks and walks and walks. And yet nothing happens, no one comes to attack him and he runs into few people that appear as nothing but merchants. He wouldn’t say it is boring, but the weather is nice and the calming atmosphere of the road sooths his mind.

His calm is broken by the sound of tree limbs crashing and the flair of chakra off to his right, he has saw no reason to send out constant spurts of spiritual energy in order to sense for enemies so he had not realized any other presence. But the burst of reishi is all too telling, the advancement of killing intent combined with a sudden shout can only mean a fight.

Honestly, he would have ignored it had the fight not burst out a few feet behind him mere minutes later. A group of hidden Mist shinobi barreling out of the woods after a single target, suiton jutsu flying between them and Kaien watches in interest the way they manipulate his element if only because he can feel the perking up of Nejibana from inside him.

Recognition hits him next and the bingo page for the missing-nin they are attacking comes to mind; Ami, no last name to call family. A defector from Mist after having an affair with a Kumo-nin, she is a low-level jounin with weakened coils due to complications during the conception of her son from a previous marriage.  She works primarily with kenjutsu and taijutsu.

And the longer he watches the more he frowns; there are four on one, clearly all higher-level jounin and there is no need for them to be so harsh towards her. Not to mention she is clearly already injured (bleeding heavily from a potentially mortal wound in her stomach - definitely mortal if she doesn’t get immediate attention and only depending on how long she has been bleeding for. From her pale features he doesn’t think she’ll make it) and he has seen several opportunities to simply incapacitate her.

They are being unnecessarily brutal. He scowls; his honor and his pride won’t let him step back and watch such treatment. They are _toying_ with her, not respecting her abilities nor even regarding her as an opponent worthy of their full attention.

Disrespectful.

Dishonorable.

A shunpo forward and he is blocking their next attack, a reishi-covered hand stopping the Mist-shinobi’s blade.

It’s all over in mere seconds, his opponent clearly recognizing that they are outclassed. But those seconds were plenty of time for Ami to make a break for it, to at least hobble into hiding, yet as he turns around she is still there. This time on her knees, eyes shining with a fire he remembers seeing in his dreams, even as her sword his held in shaking hands that can barely grip the blade.

Not that he has a closer look he can see the true damage her wound has wrought on her body. She won’t make it.

“Why?” She grits out, clearly trying to hide her true pain.

He offers a small smile, sitting down across from her on the road with his blade sheathed and resting atop his knees. “They have no honor.”

She snorts, even though Kaien can tell the action hurts, her blade lowering but still at the ready should he make a move, “We are shinobi, honor gets you killed.”

“It seems you get killed either way,” he says, pointedly tilting his head towards her mid-section.

“I’m not dead yet,” she snaps fiercely.

Kaien lets his reishi scan over her figure, “No. Not yet, but soon.”

“Then why don’t you just kill me, huh?”

“I have no reason to.”

She laughs, a bitter sound, “So why are you here, oh-noble-samurai?”

He pulls back his hood, lets the sunlight reflect off his black locks and his eyes move to the too-blue sky. “No one deserves to die alone,” he tells her.

“I’m not them,” his eyes snap back to her figure, a question on the tip of his tongue. “Whoever it is you lost,” she shifts, lets her blade drop and looks to the sky, “I’m not them.”

“I didn’t-“

“It’s in your eyes,” she smiles. “You wear your heart on your sleeve, samurai.” She tips her gaze to his tattoo, “Literally too. Family crest?”

“You’re calm for someone dying,” he deflects and he must say that the observation is true, she doesn’t seem bothered at all by the loss of her own life.

Ami simply shrugs, “I knew it would happen someday, such is the life of a shinobi. Or, maybe, that’s just the shock talking.”

Kaien hums, remembering his own time - if vaguely - and the way they tried to explain it in the academy, how the life expectancy of a combatant would be significantly less than a civilian.

The sound of her chuckling draws his attention back, “Though, I must say, that I hadn’t expected to be killed by my own son.”

“Your son?”

“He was the one with purple hair and a katana,” she tells him, her eyes closing and hand sliding until she lies between the blue canvas and rough platform painted red. “He has grown so strong.” The tilt of her lips is soft, voice warm like the breeze on a mid-summer’s day. “I’m so happy… he’ll survive.”

She stays silent, her chakra wavering with each breath she takes and he can tell that she won’t be much longer, but the least he can do is not let her die alone. Not let her memory be lost, not let her heart go un-carried.

“Katsudon,” she murmurs suddenly, the word so quiet he almost misses it. “I used to make him katsudon on his birthday… it was his favorite.”

“Maybe they’ll have katsudon in the pure land,” he tells her.

“I hope not,” she coughs out a laugh, “I never liked it… Samurai-san…”

“Yes?”

“Keep your honor… it looks good on you,” she offers a wane smirk, eyes still sparking with fire. “And you seem powerful enough to afford such a privilege…” Her gaze turns hard even as her lungs spasm trying to meet her demand for their use, “Don’t waste it.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.”

She doesn’t have a soul chain when her last breathe is drawn, her soul simply hovering for a moment before disappearing to the pure land. He buries her under a large oak, her sword proudly marking her grave.

He still hasn’t figured out why only some souls have chains here and others don’t, he has hypothesized it to be based on chakra but has little evidence to back that up. What he has discovered is that they don’t turn into hollows when you let the soul chain run out and that the chain takes a shorter amount of time to disappear here than in his own world.

Strange, but he hasn’t bothered to give it much thought.

**_“We should get moving, Kit.”_ **

_“The bunny’s right, you still need to gather information on these Akatsuki rumors.”_ They both ignore Kurama’s protests at his nickname.

“Aa,” he murmurs in agreement, turning on his heal and walking away from the grave he just dug.


	5. Third year part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My ever-lovely readers, I hope you are all doing well, and enjoy this newest chapter!
> 
> There are a few things that I should make evident however;
> 
> 1\. Everything Kaien is doing has a purpose, it may not be fully explained at first, or even explained at all at first, but that is because I am trusting all of you to put the pieces together as things move along.  
> 2\. Things will be explained. Eventually.  
> 3\. I still haven’t decided on a love interest but I am heavily leaning towards not having one for him. Mostly because that isn’t the focus of this story, and I have written so many others that do have a pairing or are pre-slash that I would like a break.  
> 4\. I will be posting new stories eventually, most likely around spring-break.  
> 5\. Love you all and hope everything is going well.
> 
> Enjoy and please review!!!

_'Well, I guess this is it,’_ he thinks as he sits under the bright canvas of Suna’s skies, his fingers idly picking at the sandy rooftop. The sunrise is just peeking over the horizon and it makes him smile; in his world they call these nations the Land of the Rising Sun. A title he had always taken a liking to because of the implications that pile in layers behind it.

_“It seems so,”_ Nejibana agrees, he can tell that she is running her fingers across the flowers budding in his inner world, it is something she loves to do when they are at a turning point. _“You should contact Orochimaru soon,”_ she continues.

He only gives a mental shake of his head, _‘With Kabuto I’m sure he already knows.’_

_“That boy is truly talented,”_ she hums agreeably.

_‘How long do you think we’ll be there?’_

_“Don’t worry, my flower, everything will go smoothly.”_

_‘That’s not what I asked.’_

_“Isn’t it?”_

He flickers out of existence, only appearing to the naked eye once he reaches the village gates. Setting up a purposefully casual image the Shiba waits, any second now the Konoha shinobi will arrive and he will agree to speak with their Hokage.

**_“There are other ways to do this.”_ **

_“Oh, shut it, you just don’t want to go back to Konoha.”_

**_“It’s a rotten place.”_ **

_‘You’re only saying that because my first dad sealed you when you attacked.’_

A huff of hot breath rushes through his mindscape, **_“You humans-“_**

_‘Shinigami.’_ It’s his parting word as he forcefully blocks out the fox’s grumbling rant in order to greet his escorts.

Kakashi, surprisingly, doesn’t say a word about Kaien’s presence. Perhaps the genius was expecting it, or didn’t actually care either way. But as he follows them out into the desert sands, hood tucked over dark hair, he thinks that the Hatake is still processing what had happened last night and it is all he can do not to bring it up again.

He doesn’t bother telling them that he’s only going there to _speak_ with their leader, not to join their ranks or anything of the sort. There are more pressing matters that need to be sorted out and require the freedom of no affiliation. He will hear Tsunade out, stay as long as he needs and then depart. No fanfare, no trumpets or bells or revelations of who he once was.

No. None of that. Just a simple visit under the illusion of potential allies.

The initial part of their journey to Konoha is silent and tense, his companions the perfect representation of shinobi.

Stoic.

Emotionless.

Nearly soundless, with a few hushed words spoken between them.

Gai and his own team had apparently returned the previous night - Kaien suspects that it was to warn the Hokage of his potential arrival, not that he thinks she didn’t already know. (Those ANBU were obvious in corralling him to Suna now that he has hindsight to work with).

It’s the second part of the trip that gets interesting. If only because Sakura can’t hold herself back from asking questions; the medic in her demanding further explanation for his mysterious ‘kekkai genkai’.

“How do your coils not- unless they’ve adapted… But that would take generations for such perfect control,” her musings ramble on and Kaien listens patiently, not about to correct her assumptions. (He doesn’t _actually_ have coils… Or well, he does, but he doesn’t use them like ninja do. They are simply there from his past life. He doesn’t require them to use reishi, so they are stagnant and most likely holding whatever traces of energy that is allowing him to be so openly seen by civilian and shinobi alike). “But then why haven’t we heard of…” She trails off, head whipping to direct piercing green eyes onto him. “What is it called?”

“What is what called?”

“Your kekkai genkai,” she says as if it should be obvious, “what’s its name?”

He blinks, not exactly expecting that question so suddenly, nor entirely sure how to respond. (He remembers Orochimaru asking something similar, but he had only waved the snake off). There are many things he could call it if he so chooses. But what comes out is, “Reiryoku.”

And if this isn’t perfect then he doesn’t know what it. It gives him the perfect out for mixing up chakra and reishi in future conversation.

“Spirit energy?” The girl murmurs, brows furrowing.

“Yes, but we call the energy itself reishi.”

“It explains why your chakra feels so weird,” the one that gives off the sense of forests and earth speaks up. Tenzou, or is it Yamato? Kaien can’t be sure, he’s heard the man called both since they’ve started towards Konoha.

Kaien huffs out a laugh, “Yeah, well, your reishi feels weird to me.”

“What do you mean?” Sakura presses.

“Like it’s tainted with something,” he shrugs, “I haven’t really thought about it much.”

“…Tainted?” Sakura murmurs to herself, seeming to get lost in her thoughts.

The conversation dwindles after that; once more falling to silence until they reach the gates.

A sight which Kaien had thought he would never see again. They are towering, taller than he remembers and twice as intimidating, perhaps because he is entering as an outsider this time around. The great doors stand swung open, the symbol for the village proudly etched into the stone and painted an eye-catching red. Demanding respect they reach for the sky to break the distance between heaven and earth, seeking a balance between both that Kaien only knew a few to actually achieve.

He lets himself appreciate their view, lets his eyes wander, because that is not suspicious - he has, by all records, never seen nor set foot in this village. So by that train of thought it would be more suspicious if he _didn’t_ gawk. And besides, part of him is feeling nostalgic, these are the very gates that he left in order to find Sasuke, the last doorway he stepped through when he was alive.

His sandaled foot steps into the threshold.

Konoha is gorgeous.

As it always has been.

Maybe it doesn’t have the twisting streets of Uzushio, or the avenues of Soul Society. Maybe it doesn’t have the wild colors of bright reds and dancing purples, the sheathed greens or the cooling blues. Maybe it is forest green and burgundy. Maybe it doesn’t have his family, or his squad; doesn’t have seals decorating each stone, or empty streets that are like a home.

But it was once a place his protected, a place he sought out, a place he gave his life for.

The guards at the gate don’t even question his presence, obviously having already been told. They simply give a nod towards Kakashi.

“Shiba-san, you’re with me, the rest of you are dismissed,” he gives his orders, ignoring Kaien’s correction on his name. Not even giving him time to process the wave of his hand Kakashi is off, leaving him to follow after over the rooftops and towards what he can only assume is the Hokage’s tower.

He doesn’t let himself get lost looking at their surroundings, because he doesn’t think he could remember the way to Tsunade’s office even if he tried. He doesn’t think he could even remember the route to find his favorite ramen stand.

But maybe that’s for the best. That way the confusion, or lost look that most have when coming to a new place is true. The less he has to lie the better. Like he said; he’s never been the best at lying (perhaps that’s why he loves the life of a Shinigami that based its values in pride and honor rather than subterfuge - not to say that he isn’t doing his fair share of that).

They enter through the window, and with the way Tsunade doesn’t even bat an eye at this tells Kaien _so_ much about shinobi habits. He may not remember much about Konohagakure itself but, this office he does. Remembers the way an old man had entertained the idle thoughts and rambling inclinations of a boy who had no one else. Recalls how a younger him had burst in at inopportune moments and still he had settled back, eyes warm with a grandfather’s love and heard out Naruto’s tales. However tall those tales were. The way the sun had risen over the village and spread shadows into the office with increasing length, shades in his favorite color collapsing against piles of paperwork and ink blotches. Can hear the scrape of a brush on parchment, and the heavy sigh of a man forced to work well past his prime. The cheers and echoes of a lost era where he had been a ninja, one of leaf’s, with missions marked and a team that gathered for instruction in the very spot he now steps.

If he concentrates he swears the smell of smoke is still hovering under the stench of sake and ink.

“Hokage-sama,” he says, because if there is anything that Soul Society taught him it’s to respect those with a higher position than you. At least, to their face. (It’s not like being clan head taught him nothing). Besides, if he doesn’t then it would be a small hint to who he used to be. If only a small one. All the same, small things are what shinobi thrive off of, the little hints that build and build and finally give a whole picture.

And if he uses the small bow of his head as a pause for mentally fortifying his emotions? Well, only his teammates need to know. Because no matter how long he has spent away from here he can still remember the way she had looked at Naruto, the way she had the gaze of a mother, of an aunt, of a womanly figure _willing_ to show _him_ love. He, who had been ridiculed and shunned by an entire village for as long as he could have remembered at that point in his life. So, if the sight of her brings up emotions he has long since thought buried, it is entirely not his fault.

But it’s really the flickering of reishi around him as Tsunade leans forward that draws his shields back up. Clearly the ANBU are restless at the sight of a new face; a potential threat, and so their pressure can’t be fully suppressed.

“Shiba Kaien,” she draws out, eyes sharp in a way that is entirely calculating. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“A little puppy told me you wanted to talk.” He forces down the disappointment at the way Kakashi doesn’t even react to the insult.

“And this puppy was more convincing then my ANBU?” Kaien lets out an internal sigh; he knew that this would come up. Because why would he bother showing up now? Why not earlier? What are his intentions? And by Kami he knows this entire conversation will be laced with traps, with underhanded methods to trip him up and prove his lies should he speak them. And he may be horrible at lying outright, may be more versed in honor and pride and all the values of Shinigami, but he was a clan head, a lieutenant that dealt with politics more often then he would have liked. So he knows these games, maybe not as well as a shinobi would, but he knows them - and hopefully that will be enough to cut this as short as possible.

“The ones that chased me to Suna?” He questions idly, voice drawling in a way that would be more affective if he were inspecting possible imperfections in his nails. But watching the flash of emotion that plays against the Hokage’s features is more entertaining - the amusement, the intrigue, the calculation; all there and gone in a flash.

“They were ordered to seek you out.”

“How convenient that the Akatsuki were after the Kazekage at the same time.” And _oh,_ that makes so much more sense now. Konoha was testing him from the very beginning - to see if he would actually help a major village in such a blatant way. In such a way that would all but _announce_ his standing to any with possible doubts. To clear him as an ally and not just a threat to the village’s daimyo and civilian council. Which means that any past attempts had also, perhaps, been attempts at corralling him in a certain direction and it just so happens that this one worked, that he felt the door closing, that he felt Gaara _dying._ Oh, yes, how convenient it all is. And to have his old team there of all shinobi; he wants to laugh.

Kurama does it for him.

It all works out so perfectly. So aligned with his own goals that for a moment he thinks the Soul King had set it all up like this; but the thought is easily dismissed, they had already sent him back, there is no purpose in playing further with this world. Any outcome here will be in fate’s hands and in his own; of no concern to a being that focuses so much more on another dimension filled with Shinigami and wars and a traitor that would dethrone him given the chance.

“I hear you’re pursuing them.”

“I am,” he says, the knowledge so well known by now that denying would do nothing. “Are you saying that your shinobi couldn’t handle them?”

“The decision to evade your pursers was your own,” the woman counters, verbally swatting away his admittance at knowledge to Konoha’s methods while insinuating a suspicious nature and ignoring his own press for answers.

“So was yours.” The words come from his raw nerves, from his need for this to end, to move this circling conversation along _now._ The spike of rei-chakra in the room that bounces along his senses tells him it works.

**_“It seems the snake’s information was useful after all.”_ **

_‘Aa.’_

_“It’s for the best”_ Nejibana says supportively, _“keep your eyes on the goal.”_

**_“The over-grown weed has a point, Kit.”_** Kurama sends a burst of soothing reishi into his system, scattering the building clouds overhead. **_“If you back down now, I’ll eat you.”_**

_‘I’d like to see you try, furball.’_

Despite his comrade’s words of support, he still feels a twinge of guilt at being the reason for his once-grandmother-figure’s shuttering pain and anger. Of course, none of that shows on her face - but he doesn’t need expressions to feel it in her very soul. He just really hopes that the anger doesn’t win out, but hope doesn’t always work within his needs, so placating now that he has shaken her - shown her that Konoha won’t be simply pushing him around - is his best option.

“Perhaps it’s best we cut to the chase,” he smooths his tone, tinges the air with his own energy to push away the lingering effects of his comment.

She collects herself remarkably fast, beating her emotions into submission and replacing the cloak of a leader. She gestures for him to take a seat, and he amiably follows the offer, “You’re after the Akatsuki, so are we.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he huffs, placing his sword across his knees.

“Yes,” Tsunade gives a nod. “We’ve been monitoring the Akatsuki for some time now. And you seem to have the most success in hunting them down.”

“I only brought in two members,” _‘officially’_ his mind supplies helpfully, “and that was only because they came to me.”

“That is still more than anyone else.” Nejibana shifts with a sigh inside him, discontent at the fact the woman is now trying to draw them in with pretty praises. “You’re powerful,” she continue. “But we have resources and protection from other villages.”

He narrows his eyes; if she is saying what he thinks she is…

“What are you suggesting?”

“How would you like to become a shinobi of Konohagakure?” His vision goes white, the world seems to tilt and his reishi fluctuates. It’s like someone just punched him in the gut, “Of course the council will need to be informed, and there will be-“

“No.”

“What?”

“I said, no,” he repeats, the fringe of his hair - that has grown slightly since his arrival in this world - shadowing his eyes. His fingers dig into the skin of his calloused hands, drawing crescent moons into the surface. This. Konohagakure. It isn’t his home anymore. It was Naruto’s; it was a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy’s who couldn’t stop dreaming of Hokage. Not his. It belongs to a shinobi, not a Shinigami. It belongs to a past life, not this one.

It doesn’t hold what he considers precious anymore, only memories of that, echoes, shadows. Even if his team is still here, even if Tsunade and Iruka and Teichi are still here, they aren’t _Kaien’s_ precious people. They have grown and changed and moved forward just as he has.

The loyalty he knows he once felt doesn’t compare to what he experienced in Soul Society with his family, his squad, his friends. Soul Society may not be his home anymore, now that he has left that world, but he doesn’t _care_. He doesn’t _want_ a new home. And he doesn’t mean Uzushio, because that had been his shelter, his home in the sense it was where he placed his head to rest. But it wasn’t _home._ Home is where his precious people are. And they aren’t _here._

He doesn’t want a new home.

He just wants to fulfill the Soul King’s wish.

_“Liar.”_

He can feel Tsuande’s eyes on him, can feel Kakashi’s eye on him from where he had melted into the shadows before. Both calculating, both gauging to see if he will run.

He finally unclenches his hands, lets the ache in his joints pop and stretch out. “I didn’t come here to join your village.”

This isn’t good. Not good at all. He needs to stay in the village but there is no way he can agree to this. Even if he asked for time to think they would most likely give him a matter of days. Not nearly enough time for what he needs. And he doesn’t want to use his trump card at this point in the conversation if he doesn’t have to.

But it doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t make any sense for Konoha to expend such resources to recruit him to join their village. Ally, perhaps, but not an actual part of the village. Wouldn’t his constant deflection of their ANBU be obvious answer… Oh. It was. This was a test.

They wanted to make sure he didn’t actually have intentions towards the village and was just waiting until the time was right for him, or had recently collected information that he is going to use against them. They don’t want him to join, but they needed to make sure that he doesn’t pose a threat, because joining and gaining trust is the perfect opportunity to destroy them.

And by the look on Tsunade’s face he passed, if took a bit to figure it all out.

“Are you done now?” He bites out, eyes blazing with frustration. He continues without answer, “I didn’t come here to join you village, but I would like to stay in it while we discuss a contract for an alliance.”

“An alliance.”

“Yes,” he hums, “as you said, your village has resources and protection. I fear that the next time Akatsuki comes after me it won’t end so well.”

“So you plan to use us.”

“As you plan to use me.”

She lifts her head as if in ascension to that statement, “You will be under team Kakashi’s observation. You will accompany them on all their missions, and any missions associated with Akatsuki will be yours.”

He nods, “That is acceptable.”

“You will also allow us to study your techniques.”

“I refuse.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“I have every choice,” he snorts, “any village would be more than willing to ally with me.”

“Then why Konoha?”

He tilts his head to one side, “Akatsuki has already attacked here once in an attempt to destroy the village, it makes sense that they will try again.”

_‘You would think lying would get easier the more you do it,’_ Kaien laments with an exaggerated whine in his voice.

_“I think it was believable enough.”_

She raises her eyebrows at that, “And when, exactly, was this attack?”

“You don’t know?” He asks rhetorically. “It was the night of the kyuubi attack, the leader released the biju and controlled it to attack your village.”

He gives the information easily, without need for payment in return - knowing all too well that this show of knowledge and ability to gain intel will only make his value raise in their eyes. However, it’s a double-edged sword, because not only will his value raise but so will his threat level.

“And how do you know this?”

It’s his turn to raise an eye-brow, “I didn’t just hand Kakuzu and Hidan over.”

“Only the sharingan can control a tailed-beast, and last I checked Nagato doesn’t have one.”

Kaien snorts, “I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about Madara, their true leader.”

“Madara.” Tsunade repeats, deadpan. “Uchiha Madara.”

“Yes, he’s survived somehow, and it behind the capturing of biju.” He continues before she can get another word in on the subject, all too happy to leave that set of lies and half-truths behind. “Because his last attack failed to completely destroy this village, it’s safe to say that they will try again. And I would like to be here for it.”

“Alright, let’s say I believe you.” Tsunade crosses her arms, “Are you saying my village can’t protect itself?”

“I’m saying that it’s the best position to have the Akatsuki come to me. With three members down,” _‘five’,_ “and an entire village to face they will be strapped for resources and time. Causing them to either back down long enough to track or attack.”

“What makes you think they will come here next?”

“Because I’m here,” he tells her. “I’ve messed up enough of their plans that they want me dead by now.”

“Wanting you dead or not, their priority seems to be collecting biju,” she states. “What makes you more important than that?”

“Because they need the kyuubi.”

Kaien can feel the chakra in her stiffen with her muscles, subtle on the outside but all too noticeable on the inside. A stiff handsign and suddenly the ANBU, excluding Kakashi and a dark-haired shinobi, have disappeared. Another and the sounds of the outside world have melted away.

“You know where the kyuubi is.” It comes out a statement, a demand for an explanation and a threat all in one. It was a risk when he said it, and he knows that, knew it coming in. But they need to know that the kyuubi is safely sealed, they need to stop wasting resources on searching for the beast like he knows they are. Those shinobi should be more focused on taking out the Akatsuki and looking for possible leads on their movements, not looking for a beast that will never show up.

“Yes.”

“So you did kill him.” There is a kunai at his throat.

“No. Like I told you in Suna, he was dead when I arrived.” He doesn’t dare to take in another breath, meeting the Hokage’s eyes and waiting for her to call off her shinobi. She does. Albeit reluctantly.

“Explain.”

“As you know I was in Uzushio for a little over a year,” he tells her. “The kyuubi reformed just outside the main village, and to prevent it from harming any of the surrounding towns I sealed it.”

“It explains the spikes in kyuubi chakra in that area,” the dark-haired shinobi speaks for the first time.

“Where?” Tsunade asks, pushing past that comment with only a flicker of her eyes as sign she heard.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Her chakra spikes, killer intent filling the air thick and heavy, so fast that Kaien must say he is impressed. “The kyuubi belongs to Konoha,” she grinds out. “And you will return it.”

Kurama howls inside him, raging at such claim. Indignation just as strong flows through him; Kurama is his _partner,_ his _friend,_ his _family._ And for anyone to say such a thing against someone so precious, against one of his few remaining precious people, makes his blood boil.

“He belongs to no one,” Kaien counters with as little anger as he can muster. Although he is sure that the others can hear the strain in his voice, and if that doesn’t give it away then the sudden grip on his sword must.

“He?” Tsunade says, tapping a finger on the desk, eyes narrowed and smirk twitching at her lips. “You know its gender?”

Kaien curses himself at his slip, Nejibana scrambling to help him cover it up, “That is irrelevant.”

She eyes him, “Why are you pursing the Akatuski, Shiba-san?”

He blinks a few times at the sudden change in topics, “What?”

“You seem to have a grudge against them,” she says idly. “Any other attempts my ANBU made at corralling you into a fight failed, even when you were in the vicinity of the battle. But when the Akatsuki were involved you had no reservations.”

His suspicions were correct then. But is also means he’s given away so much more than he intended. The risk at mentioning the kyuubi has handed so much to Konoha. But it may yet work in his favor, because this makes him invaluable. If they haven’t guessed that he has Kurama inside him then they will conclude he is the only one with knowledge of where the fox is sealed, and therefore can’t kill him until he reveals this information. Even if they have concluded the fox is sealed in him (which his highly doubts, because self-sealing a biju is unheard of), they won’t kill him without measures to prevent the kyuubi from breaking out and destroying the village or escaping. And those measures will be more than obvious as they will need to know what kind of seal he has used. It also means that they won’t let him outside the village anytime soon; it’s his perfect in, his trump card. Although one he was most definitely hoping he wouldn’t need to use.

“They are killing innocent people and needlessly trying to start a war,” he says as if it should be obvious. And it _should be_.

Tsunade stares at him after that, eyes steady and revealing nothing, the tension in the room tripling by the time she finally speaks. “You lost your family to their war.”

He stiffens, pictures Miyako’s body laid out for healing, pictures her blood-covered and smiling as she cuts down members of their squad. Picture Rukia’s face as she cuts him open, and feelings the edges of her sword digging through his chest. Watches as the world burst bright and white, the tang of blood and ponding of rain phantom sensations cresting over each inch of his body. Remembers the booming voice of the Soul King that herald his request and Kaien’s arrival in this world. “Something like that.”

“Fine,” she states, pulling out a paper to make a note and handing it to her assistant at the side. Effectively breaking away the tension in the room, and pulling Kaien from his thoughts. “You will be given access to unclassified parts of our village and training grounds. But you will be observed in training.”

“I figured as much.” He nods, forcing his mind to catch up to what is happening. “But you’re not going to get any family secrets.”

“Then we have an agreement. In return for your help with Akatsuki we will offer you protection and resources.” She turns to her assistant, “Find him an open residence and draft the contract. We will sign it tomorrow.”

“There is an open complex in the shinobi district,” the dark-haired woman says, writing something down and handing the slip to the Hokage. “I will bring you the draft tonight.”

After a moment of review over what was written Tsuande turns to Kakashi in the shadows, the silver-haired shinobi seeming to get the hint and appearing in a silent flutter. “Take Shiba-san to this address to settle and stay there until his ANBU guard arrives.”

Kakashi gives a small bow, receiving the paper and the key which the Hokage rustled out of a drawer while Kaien had risen from his seat.

_‘It was easier than expected,’_ he contemplates. All it really took was for him to wait for the right moment, to bait the right team, to act as if he hadn’t known the true workings of a shinobi life. To act the honorable, prideful samurai with a few tricks up his sleeve, one that bears his heart like an open book because underestimation of his abilities always leads to an outcome in his favor. Even if that underestimation lasted only long enough for him to get his foot in the door and make him invaluable enough that they let him in the rest of the way. (His only real worry was their knowledge on his association with Orochimaru and how that would affect everything but it seems that was a needless worry).

**_“Too easy.”_ **


	6. Third year part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Ello, my ever-lovely readers!
> 
> How have you all been? ‘Cause it’s been really hecktic for me. So much work, and the semester is hardly even over (this is what I get for taking so many credits *cries*). Anyway, with spring break around the corner I think I’ll have more time for writing. BUT BUT BUT BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! I WILL NOT be updating for the duration of this coming summer; I will be abroad. I will be writing, but I won’t be able to post anything. So there will be a ten week period in which I won’t update; it DOES NOT mean I won’t be continuing.
> 
> But that isn’t really what I want to tell you all. It’s more along the lines that I’m going to take some inspiration from Blackkat’s story ‘Stormborn’ (which, if you haven’t read; what are you doing with your life?). Basically, I’ll be using the idea that Danzo was the cause for Uzushio’s downfall, but I won’t go into great detail about it all, just that it will be mentioned in this.
> 
> ALSO I NOW HAVE A BLOG SO YOU CAN COME TALK WITH ME! - ladykg. Tumblr .com (without spaces).
> 
> Anyway, onto the latest chapter! Hope you all enjoy!

He doesn’t bother unpacking after Kakashi drops him off. All too aware of the ANBU guards hovering outside his walls. He won’t be staying long enough to settle in as it stands, so there is no need to even give the illusion that he will. Even though he knows that revealing knowledge on the kyuubi’s whereabouts will make them keep him longer he doesn’t want them to get any ideas about his intentions or loyalties.

Besides, the less he has on display the less likely any of Danzo or Konoha’s shinobi will find anything. Even with seals now lining every possible entrance and exit Kaien doesn’t doubt they will find a way in. So long on the run, constantly moving, has taught him quite efficiently to keep all his important materials on him at all times.

The apartment is designed for efficiency, not for aesthetic and it becomes obvious with the practically wall-less layout. The kitchen connects without a barrier to a living space that has two windows, both large enough for a body to fit. A bookcase lines the wall that separates the door-less bedroom. The bathroom is the only area of the small apartment that is completely closed off, a door and no window gives the already cramped room an even more entrapping feeling.

It is all designed for moving quickly, fast escapes and no real points of ambush. Kaien can’t say he doesn’t approve. It doesn’t mean he leaves it all to chance, even with his seals. The series of intricate trapes he sets into place are inspired by this old Shiba residence and Orochimaru’s own special brand of catching an enemy. He knows the ANBU guard is watching him put everything into order. It doesn’t necessarily mean they can unsecure them all, but he is willing to bet they will try.

As the last of them click into place Kaien exams the lack of furniture, food and décor in his temporary residence. The furniture and décor mean little to him, but the food will be a problem and he should pick up a sleeping mat and pillow as well. Glancing at the setting sun his lips turn down.

Shopping now means he won’t be able to get anything set up personally, which leaves Nejibana to do it. All he has to do is slip his guards stares for a few moments and she can work her magic. The dark shadows of sunset will only help to conceal her appearance. A virtual goddess walking in the streets or even sneaking through the dark alleys is not likely to go unnoticed in the day.

_‘We’ll have an hour,’_ he tells her, knowing that even that is pushing their ability to stay apart. Any longer and Kaien will collapse as she is forced back into his mindscape, recovering being a painful process. They have hypothesized that it has to do with the sudden change in dimensions and gaining of a physical body. Although they have never heard of a Shinigami and their zanpakuto that would separate for lengthened periods of time, they don’t think that their predicament is normal. _‘There was an alley connected to the apartment, I’ll take that and meet you there when Kurama and I return.’_

_“Everything will go well, my flower,”_ she hums. _“Make sure to buy some good plum wine, too.”_

_‘Of course.’_

* * *

 

Kaien’s sandaled feet are soundless as he weaves through the surprisingly large crowd of both civilians and shinobi alike. His time away from large villages has made him forget how lively they are at all hours. The close proximity of bodies all around him almost creates the illusion he’s back in Soul Society joining his little sister on one of her monthly shopping sprees. But he doesn’t see her dark hair in the crowd, or hear her shouting voice that he needs to keep up, even when weighed under boxes and bags of clothes and supplies for fireworks. He pushes the memories away.

The streets are lit up with lanterns hung overhead and neon signs of shops and restaurants. He ducks into the first home-supply story that he can find, more to get out of the crowd than anything. Even Suna’s market hadn’t been this busy. Then again, their Kazekage had just returned, so no doubt more people were worried over that than shopping. All the same, Nejibana’s absence from his mindscape makes the excursion all the more stressful. They haven’t spent time parted in the past couple months, out of lack of need - his current network of spies is extensive enough that he hasn’t needed her or Kurama to work independently. (With the seal open Kurama can let an extension of his chakra leave, almost like a clone, but it creates a burst of his energy that would alert any shinobi within the area to him). And being in enemy territory without her feels like he is naked in a pit of hollows with no way out. It’s not a pleasant feeling to deal with and even Kurama’s constant presence isn’t enough to ease him. Tension sits in his stomach like a brick the entire time, his senses a hairs-breath away from moving on pure instinct, and reishi spread out as subtly as he can to get a few seconds of warning at any threats.

It’s the only reason he feels the arrival of a new shinobi lingering in the shadows. The lack of fluctuations and emotion in their reishi is what gives their affiliation away so easily.

**_“Danzo,”_** Kurama huffs out, annoyance clear in the way Kaien can feel the fox’s tails swish.

_‘He’s already making his move.’_ Kaien forces his face to remain neutral, his steps unfaltering as he ducks into a grocery story. Even when a spike of panic sits in his stomach like a brick, curling up his throat with needling claws. What If Nejibana has been discovered?

But no. No. If she were found there would be a fight, and he would feel a spike of her reishi. Besides, she knows the dangers, there is no way that she wouldn’t cover all her tracks. The panic subsides, slow and grudging as he pushes through the streets towards the ally. The presence of the Root member means nothing for his ability to slip out of sight long enough for Nejibana to come in range. Still, it’s a quicker response than what he was expecting from the old war-hawk.

He only bothers to grab the basics for a few meals before paying and leaving. It’s almost time, anyway.

_‘This changes nothing,’_ he tells his fox companion decisively. _‘But we’ll need to be more careful about getting in contact with Konan once we get everything set on our end.’_

**_“With what spies?”_** Kurama laughs, **_“We are all but sitting ducks in this village._ Our _network doesn’t reach here, remember, kit?”_**

_‘But Orochimaru’s does,’_ he hums thoughtfully. _‘It’s just a matter of catching their attention enough that Orochimaru knows I’m cashing in a favor.’_

Kurama huffs, but doesn’t comment further as Kaien’s mind whirls with possibilities; really he’s putting too much on the line for a world that he doesn’t even consider his own anymore. And for all intents and purposes he could wait until he leaves to inform Konan of this, but the sooner this happens the better. The faster he can get to forming treaties and building up the idea that peace is possible, the sooner he can slip back into the shadows. Besides, Konan and Nagato had made it very clear that having him there at any talks between the two villages is vital.

Speaking of those two, Kaien absently wonders what happened with Gaara’s kidnapping. Normally they are perfectly capable of sending him some form of warning in advance to alert him of Akatsuki’s movements. It’s the only reason why he hadn’t had the Uzumaki summon that accursed statue so he could destroy it. He _needs_ someone on the inside, and having the pseudo-leader send you all the information you could ever possibly hopeful was nearly too good to be true.

The only real explanation may be that Zetsu had orchestrated it directly, without consultation of Nagato and Konan. Or, more hesitantly, Kaien thinks that perhaps they may have been caught in their leakage of vital information. He really, _really_ hopes that’s not the case.

He breaks out of his thoughts as his apartment comes into sight, easily slipping into the alleyway, treating it as if it were a shortcut and sighing in relief at the feeling of Nejibana’s return.

_‘Uneventful?’_ He asks tentatively.

_“Come here when you put everything away,”_ she returns quietly. His lips thin at her ominous tone.

His apartment, surprisingly, has been left untouched thus far. Which makes him think these ANBU are smarter than he originally thought, perhaps realizing that a shopping trip isn’t enough time to pick everything apart when he hasn’t even bothered unpacking. He all but throws his groceries into their place, too worried about Nejibana’s findings to care where he puts anything. Not even bothering to set up his bed, Kaien drops to the floor in a meditative pose, zanpakuto spread over his knees.

He blinks his eyes open to his rolling patches of grassy, flower-filled fields dappled with blooming trees and cut apart in a puzzle by the rivers and streams that burst from springs still not found. Nejibana sits stoically with her robes draped across the soft landscape like a sculpture. Kurama lays out behind her, his bright burnt-orange fur shredding into the calming blue of the sky.

**“Kit,”** Kurama greets, toothy grin no-where to be seen.

“What is it?” He asks, coming to sit before them.

“Danzo… he,” Nejibana’s hands clench, eyes burning like he has only ever seen when discovering Aizen’s plans. “He is the reason Uzushio fell.”

The world shifts, a crack of thunder corrals darkened clouds into the sky. Kaien doesn’t even hear what she says next, his ears ring as images flash through his mind.

The crumbling ruins of a once great village, dolls burnt and decaying, lost in the streets. An orphanage destroyed by what could only be a powerful suiton-jutsu. The seals that had etched into the outer rings of the village, a barrier stronger than any he had ever seen, and yet Kiri had broken it down. Anger rises like a wave for the people slaughtered, for the culture lost, for the village betrayed and now thought of only in terms of ghosts.

“My flower,” Nejibana’s hand covers his. “You need to calm. He will face justice in due time.”

Sucking in a breath he closes his eyes, lets another rush of air help cool his singed nerves. “I know.” He lets out a sigh before repeating it like a prayer. “I know.”

He opens his eyes to watch Nejibana settle back down, her gaze sharp but understanding. “I placed all the seals, and had time to look through his old archives,” she explains. “In them I found a mission for Root members to intercept a messenger sent by the Uzukage to request reinforcements. There was also evidence that he sent Root to help Kiri’s forces. But…” she pauses here, the world around them fluctuating in temperature, “that’s not all. The Uchiha massacre was orchestrated by him.”

Kaien forces himself to sit still, muscles straining against the urge to out the dishonorable man- no _monster,_ now.

“That explains why Orochimaru is convinced he has the sharingan.”

Nejibana nods, “I wasn’t able to read any more, but I know where to find it when I return.”

Kaien frowns, “We won’t be able to take another risk like this for a while.”

“I know,” Nejibana sighs, her eyes still filled with sparks of anger.

**“Do not forget your purpose in going there, you weed,”** Kurama huffs, his breath rustling the grass. **“We still need to get evidence for Konan and Nagato.”**

“You think I don’t know that!” She counters, arms crossing and eyes narrow. And Kaien can see what the biju is doing, although he can’t say he approves of the timing. Right now they should focus on plans, and how to handle this new information, because if Danzo arranged the massacre then what was Itachi’s true role in it all?

* * *

 

He doesn’t remember falling asleep the night before, but he wakes up with a crick in his neck, and stiff limbs from remaining in one position all night. Opening his eyes to see a roof over his head is disorienting and for a moment his breath catches in his throat and his mind misleadingly thinks he is back in Soul Society in the Shiba residence with his family just beyond the door of his bedroom. Only the bedroom doesn’t have a door, and there is no soft hum of pure reishi in the air. Only the background dance of a not-quite energy mixing in with the surrounding spirit particles, tainting them with the physical world - the world of the living.

He holds back the choking cry at that, forcing it down along with the lingering dream of a dark-haired woman with a soft smile and eyes filled with love. (Shinigami may very well live longer, but that means three years is like a snap of their fingers compared to the length of their life-time. It also means that three years still leaves the grief of his loss raw and open like a fresh wound in his chest).

Instead of letting his mind linger he rises, stretching and popping out joints, the sound loud in the empty apartment. Kaien spares a glance at his still unmade bed before moving to the kitchen to gather a small breakfast of fruit and nuts. He hasn’t eaten anything fancier for breakfast in a long time. On the chance his catch from the night before has left overs he will eat that, but that occurs with less frequency than a meal bought from a local restaurant.

(Those funds that he earns from catching missing-nin get split; half to go into a seal for later use towards supplies and bribery, the other half a seal for contingency plans and just-in-cases).

A glance out the window tells him the sun has just tripped the last leg over the horizon in a bursting blanket of oranges and fading pinks. He hums at the sight around his mouthful of food; it seems he still has a good two hours before Kakashi’s designated time. And even then, if he remembers correctly, Kakashi is normally late. It will give him plenty of time to run through basic katas and a few drills meant to increase speed.

He had tried for weighted seals, the design painted out in fading ink inside one of the many scrolls he found in Uzushio. But it was created for shinobi attributes and limits, not that of a Shinigami. Besides, what he really needs to increase is his shunpo; he isn’t even nearly as fast as Yoruichi. Granted, she _is_ the Goddess of Flash for a reason. But he determined that when he came here he would stop at nothing to become strong enough to protect those he loves, and if that means pushing his limits in speed and endurance then that is what he will do.

Technically, with Kurama’s help he is as fast as Yoruichi, but that is only in bankai form, he is sure that biju mode without a release will only barely keep up with her powers.

He also needs to work on moving faster with reishi enhancing his muscles, because when it comes to that he is at the same level as higher ranked jounin. Which is unacceptable if he wants to have a chance against Akatsuki’s true leader.

With that plan in mind Kaien leaves his apartment behind him and heads out the door, only to stop short as he realizes he doesn’t actually know _where_ the training grounds are. With a huff he sets out in the direction he _thinks_ they may be, but when a half hour passes and he still hasn’t come even close to finding one he gives into his Plan B. A fancy set of footwork, shunpo, and dodge of a kunai later and he is smiling sheepishly at one of his ANBU guards. One hand rubbing the back of his neck and the other held up in a placating motion to try and stem off any further attacks.

“Heh, sorry to startle you,” he says. “I was just wondering where training ground three is?”

He doesn’t even need his reishi to sense the contempt rolling of the ANBU in waves. With a stiff hand the shinobi points in a direction before disappearing in a puff of smoke, presumably to find another place to hide. Either that or to report to the Hokage that he knows about his guards - which, what were they expecting? They weren’t exactly being subtle.

Kaien holds in a snort, it reminds him of the guards that they sometimes set around the Kuchiki head. Annoying them had become an art form for his sister and a few of his more distant cousins. Not that he had disapproved; really he would have done so himself if it wasn’t for his status and relative need to appear politically correct.

In hindsight, he would have liked to participate more. (Although annoying the ANBU may have to take the place of that dream). As Kaien he has lost much of his more prank-inclined nature, not that he doesn’t still have it, it’s just that is has taken a new form. More out of necessity than anything else; he doe- did have two younger siblings to look out for, after all. And an entire clan on his shoulders, as well as a squad.

He still loves to joke, to tease, and get under the skin of those who are uptight. But it’s more subtle… sometimes, anyway.

Which he supposes is for the best, seeing as anything else could be dangerous hints. Not that he actually thinks any of them will really figure it out. There are too many secrets and puzzle pieces to discover for that. (Honestly, Kakashi and possibly Jiraiya are the only two he thinks are capable of it, and Kakashi is too filled with the belief he killed… well, _himself)._ But Kakashi had mentioned they thought Naruto alive for all this time - explaining why leaf shinobi were more abundant in patrols to Uzushio than other villages. With Kurama there they most likely hoped it was evidence of Naruto. Perhaps they think that Kaien extracted the beast form the boy after taking him. (Even if that is the only reason they’re keeping him in the village - to get evidence of where the kyuubi is and get it back, and then kill him in revenge… Well, he’ll just have to move faster than them).

He barely holds in a snort at the irony of it all.

It helps that the sight of training ground three makes his heart twist, choking out any teasing he felt for a brief moment where all that he can see is three posts and the sound of chiming bells rustles along the wind. Without noticing his feet carry him into the middle of the training ground. Green and brown filling his vision before he closes his eyes and tips his head back to let the rays of sunshine beat down on his skin. Sucking in a breath he lets himself calm, heart settling back into a steady beat.

He allows himself a moment of peace.

But he doesn’t hold the position for long, instead slides into the first stance in a set just long enough for his muscles to recognize it before moving to the next.

They aren’t a set from an actual style of fighting, more a series of motions and positions that loosens and stretches the muscles, working your cardio and preparing you for the rest of your work out. Simple, and used by the entire thirteenth division squad. Most others have their own specialized sets, some over-lap but division competitiveness pushes them all to seek out new and increasingly hard workouts. As laid back as Jushiro-taichou can be that doesn’t change his squad’s personalities. He ended up giving Kaien and a few other seats full rein over the training programs (the captain, of course, still okayed the ideas, but it was his seated officers that came up with everything).

An hour later he takes a moment to let his muscles feel their stiffness wash away, and rejuvenate what energy they lost. He doesn’t know what time Kakashi will bring it upon himself to actually show up, but he knows he only has another thirty before the other members of this team start to arrive. Which means that moving on to another workout will do him no good - he’ll be forced to stop in the middle anyway, and despite what most new Shinigami think, taking a break is healthy. Recommended even.

With that in mind he lets himself fall back into the grass, his limbs spreading out and eyes locking onto the shifting pattern of clouds in the sky. A few of them form into almost distinguishable shapes. But he doesn’t let himself think much on their patterns, instead he focuses inwards.

_“Do you have a plan?”_

_‘I’ll play it by ear. Not much to plan for when I don’t know what to expect.’_

**_“Don’t know what to expect?”_** Kurama snorts, his tails sweeping to curl around his paws. **_“It’ll be that stupid teamwork test.”_**

_‘You think?’_

**_“Humans like patterns.”_ **

_“He’s right. Even you sometimes used that test for new recruits.”_ His zanpakuto points out, _“And you have been working alone these past few years.”_

_‘Not alone. I have you two.’_

_“They don’t know that.”_

**_“Besides, that old sensei of yours most likely wants to see how you work with everyone.”_ **

_‘Konoha_ has _always prided itself on teamwork.’_ Kaien lets his fingers run over the earth beneath him. _‘Then one on one fights, after. He’ll want to know my skills.’_

_“No releases, my flower. I will not answer if you call.”_

_‘I know,’_ he gives a mental nod. _‘We can’t reveal too much too soon.’_

The feeling of a reishi signature brushing against his senses makes him open his eyes. Although he makes no move to get up, the tilt of his head is enough of a giveaway that he knows their coming. There are four of them, Sakura and Sasuke, with Tenzo and Sai not far behind. Kakashi still nowhere to be found.

Even so, those that have shown up are early. If only by a couple minutes. What really catches his attention is the fact all of them are entirely shocked at seeing him sprawled in the grass. Almost as if…

He lets out a small chuckle, rising to his feet in a calculated movement, “I assume Kakashi-san didn’t tell you?”

Sasuke is eyeing him subtly, while Sakura’s green orbs are too busy putting everything together. It’s Tenzo that finally speaks up, “You’ve been assigned to our team.”

Kaien gives a blinding smile, all teeth and political cheer, “Got it in one.”

“Why?”

Kaien slides his eyes to the Uchiha, eyeing the boy for a moment before giving a shrug, “Hokage’s orders.”

“Hokage’s orders.”

“Don’t believe me?”

“I don’t see a reason to.”

Kaien suppresses an eye roll, not even bothering with a response he falls back onto the grass. Taking up his previous positon the Shiba lets Nejibana rest next to him, his hand following the pattern of delicate flowers that is engraved subtly into her sheath.

“Is Kakashi always late?”

“It’s barely been five minutes,” Sakura says, the lilt to her voice all confusion.

He cracks an eye open, “I can’t sense him in the immediate area and all of you have arrived.”

“How do you know he isn’t suppressing his chakra?”

Kaien snorts, “I’m a sensor type.” The lie is easy because by shinobi standards it’s true. “And reishi is different than chakra,” he explains. “You can’t suppress it the same way.”

“What do you mean?” Tenzo steps forward, enough that his shadow is a mere inch away from Kaien’s arm. “You said it was spirit energy, and shinobi have been trained to hide it.”

“You can’t hide your life energy that easily.”

_“Be careful.”_

**_“You’re giving away too much, Kit.”_ **

_‘No, they won’t be able to connect any of this to Shinigami or Naruto. They already think it’s a kekkai genkai.’_

_“That lie won’t last forever.”_

_‘But it’ll last long enough.’_

Sakura settles next to him, but her body is forcefully relaxed. Ready for a fight at a moment’s notice, “Life energy… like yin…” she trails off in thought, eyes glazed over for a few moments before they brighten with a sparking fire Kaien’s stomach twists at. Whatever she’s about to say won’t be good. “So your kekkai genkai is similar to yin-release!”

“Yin-release…” he murmurs tentatively. It makes sense to some degree if he really thinks about it. Yin-release being the use of spiritual energy instead of physical. However, it also suggests that one then has a yang half, as there always must be a balance. Only, he doesn’t _have_ the physical energy to sustain a human, so even then it’s a stretch. But one he isn’t about to really correct her on.

“Your kekkai genkai,” Sasuke speaks up, “what, exactly, can it do?”

Kaien looks at him for a moment before pointedly closing his eyes, “If we’re playing twenty questions I want a turn.”

“Who said anything about playing?” Sasuke’s calm voice floats through the atmosphere. And Kaien will give it to his old teammates; from just what he’s seen so far he can tell they’ve changed significantly. Sasuke is less angry, defensive maybe, and still filled with a grief. But not as broody and closed off as before. Sakura does not look to the boy for constant approval, her will seems to have solidified. And her medical prowess has been talked about in many of the villages and small towns he’s visited.

They’ve grown up. It makes his chest ache with hope and a small closing happiness that is so similar to nostalgic finality. As if this portion of his life has finally, after all this time, started to truly come to an end. He no longer has to worry or think back upon those times with a bitterness now that he knows the people he once called precious have become strong enough to survive.

“Interrogations are normally one sided,” Sasuke continues.

“Normal is subjective,” Kaien argues back. “Besides, interrogations are reserved for threats.”

“Are you claiming to not be a threat?”

“Have I ever shown hostility to Konoha before?” He opens his eyes again, scowl pulling his lips into a frown.

“That doesn’t mean you won’t attack now.”

“Maybe it’s best to drop the subject,” Tenzo intervenes, stepping between the two. As if blocking them from seeing one another would be able to prevent anything.

Kaien huffs, but concedes. It is best not to get into a fight so soon with new comrades. Although, the Uchiha _truly_ reminds him of the Kuchiki with the hostility and blandly told threats.

“Why? Duck-butt is simply seeing if Ken-chan is a threat.” The boy that feels like restraint and distorted emotions makes his way into the conversation.

“Duck-butt… Ken…chan?” Kaien questions, eyebrow rising.

“His hair looks like a duck butt. And you use a sword,” Sai explains as if it should be obvious. “Do you not like it? I could always call you Dickless inste-“

“No, no! Ken-chan is fine,” Kaien cuts in, smile strained as he pushes to sit cross-legged in the grass. From the looks on everyone else’s face the handing out of nicknames is a normal occurrence for the pale boy, so he leaves it alone.

He’s about to ask about what they usually do for training when Kakashi’s reishi brushes against his senses. Normally this wouldn’t have stopped him, and really it isn’t _Kakashi_ that stops him; it’s who’s with him. The moment he recognizes Tsunade’s signature he’s on his feet, sword tucked into his sash. The sudden movements make the others take a step back but he doesn’t pay attention, too intent on trying to name the other signatures accompanying Tsunade and Kakashi. The party is big. Too big.

Something has happened.


	7. Second year part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Ello ever-lovely readers!
> 
> So the main point of this chapter is to show you who exactly Kaien has as back-up/allies/spies. Or, at least, some of them anyway.
> 
> Also, it should be noted - Kaien will only be in Konoha for about 5-6 more chapters, (not including this one) and for those chapters 2-3 of them will be technically outside the village. So NO Kaien WILL NOT be in Konoha this entire fic. And I’ve decided officially ta have no REAL pairings in this fic. I.E. Kaien won’t actually have a relationship relationship with anyone. Mostly because I don’t think it would work for his character.
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy and please review!

 

Kirigakure is, Kaien thinks, _ironically_ his first stop after leaving Uzushio officially. Whether out of sheer proximity or because cutting across the ocean made it harder to be tracked is up in the air. Salty air, he might add. It still remains to be ironic, in his opinion, that his first steps on the road towards his larger goals, in both of his lives here, occur with regards to the same people.

That is, with regards to shinobi from Kiri, missing-nin or not.

Which is fine. In both situations the outcomes for all parties involved were not favorable. Or, at least, the parties Kaien felt didn’t deserve any form of respectful conclusion. Gato, decidedly, did not. And honestly the Akatsuki member placing the Mizukage (who mildly reminds Kaien of his Uncle’s recent recruit, Toshiro) under this genjutsu doesn’t either. At least not at the moment. (He is all about second chances and righting your own wrongs, but that doesn’t mean he commends and supports actions considerably harming others).

Kiri, as it currently stands, is suffering. After the purge, the rebellion, and now talk of a brewing civil war no doubt about to explode at any time… well it’s no wonder they’re short staffed, with increasingly dropping percentages of missions. All this because the Akatsuki set their leader under an illusion.

He holds in a sigh as the man before him lists off term after term of a supposed alliance between them. Ranting on and on about impossible demands and… did the man just ask for his _eye_?

“Mizukage-sama,” he cuts in smoothly, not wanting this to continue for much longer. “I thank you for the offer but I cannot accept when you’re in your current state.”

**_“How diplomatic.”_ **

_‘Oh, shut it you over-grown ball of fur. I’d like to see you do better.’_

**_“I would astound you with my persuasion, brat.”_ **

Kaien mentally snorts at the bold claim, not even respecting it with a verbal response, _‘Just focus on your part of this, will you?’_

“What ‘state’?” The Mizukage asks threateningly, his guards moving to his side with a simple tick of one finger at the perfect angle. Kaien watches this with mild interest - it makes him wonder at their degree of loyalty that they would move to protect such a corrupted leader.

“You are under a genjustu,” he says as if it should be obvious. “I came here to release you from it and earn you as an ally.”

Everything devolves into chaos from there. But he _does_ succeed, if barely. A week in the hospital the only sign that he has been grievously injured during the battle at all. But, seriously, even with his shikai the task wasn’t exactly _easy._ Kurama too preoccupied with fighting his sibling in their shared mindscape to be much of any help to Kaien’s own battle. A plethora of ANBU guards which had the luxury of wanting to actually kill him at the Kage’s beck and call didn’t help much either.

Diplomacy, Kaien conclude, is much too under rated in the face of violence. He hadn’t even _attacked_ the Mizukage before they decided to go for his head.

But with the breaking of the Akatsuki’s hold the change to Kiri is nothing short of astounding. The Mizukage and Mei, who according to literally every other shinobi, had bickered like a married couple prior to the genjutsu seem to have taken it to a new level with the release. The villagers seem less tense, more openly exploring the streets and markets. There is still distrust, a level of humming dissonance just below the surface as they try to adjust. But the people of this world have always been adaptable - they would need to be, to survive this life. (It’s what, Kaien thinks, makes humans so interesting; their shear capacity to grow, to change, to be in constant movement and evolve so fast).

The paperwork, however, piles higher than even Kaien.

He can’t say he feels all _that_ bad for the man, however. The stacks represent the removal of laws he put in place, as well as the appointing of new associates and positions on their reformed council. Somewhere in those stacks lays a tentatively shelled out plan for diplomatic talks with Konoha once everything blows over - one of the requests he made in exchange for breaking the genjutsu.

“Why would I want to do that?” Yagura scowls, scanning over another scroll.

“Because it would benefit your village.”

“By chumming it up with leaf huggers,” the man scoffs at the idea.

Kaien shakes his head, “By improving your image. If you are willing to ally with other nations then it shows that Kiri really is in for change and it will draw more attention. Something you need if you want to increase mission requests.”

“You have this all planned out, don’t you?”

He smiles, wide and too full of teeth to be anything but fake, “If you don’t believe me you could ask any one of your newly appointed advisors. I’m sure Mei would be willing to _talk_ you into it,” he continues, barely batting an eye at the glare the statement earns him. Whether because of the idea that he and Mei are on friendly terms or because Yagura knows _exactly_ how painful Mei’s _talks_ can be. “Of course, there is also the matter of Akatsuki and having a powerful village at your back when they come to collect your biju will come in handy.”

“Are you saying you won’t try to stop them should they make an attempt?” The man levels him with a steely gaze. “That would be a violation of your agreement.”

“It would,” Kaien nods. “But I cannot be here at all times, and I can’t know every move the Akatsuki will make.”

_‘Not yet, at least.’_

_“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, my flower, we still don’t know that they will see reason.”_

* * *

 

He heads to Otogakure around a month later. He remembers, if vaguely, confronting the snake sannin during the chuunin exams, and the way the snake is _technically_ part of the reason he is dead. If Sasuke hadn’t been tempted into leaving than Naruto wouldn’t have needed to chase after him and consequently met his death. In fact, Kaien doesn’t even really know if anyone else from that rescue mission had lived now that he thinks about it. The thought leaves a nagging tug in his heart and on his lips.

He pushes that away, tentatively and with the care of someone who knows that those people were once precious to them. Because he has to. Because Orochimaru is an ally that Kaien needs in order to deconstruct everything that is happening in this world. The Mizukage is helpful - his village has resources, but his memory of the past few years is blurred at the edges. Besides, Kaien is older now, knows more, is wiser about how the world works and what motivates people to make decisions or to act in rash ways. He doesn’t hate Orochimaru for what he did all those year ago. Orochimaru had wanted to learn all the jutsu in the world through the sharingan, but also wanted immortality. The question is why? The better question is who did he lose to feel this way?

(Kaien knows he should think this way more with Aizen, but from what few times he had talked with the man and what he uncovered of his plans, they were for the selfish desire of rising about everyone in power. For the selfish desire of _ruling_ the worlds the Soul King presides over. Kaien isn’t clean of his own selfish desires; what he made Rukia do is evidence enough of that. But he can’t support Aizen’s. And he supposes there could be a reason for them, but Kaien honestly doesn’t care. Not when it got Miyako killed. Not when it got his squad killed.

And now he is in this world. One he doesn’t want to be in, has no precious people in. He wants to go home. But the Soul King seems to think he has purpose here, some prophecy. So he will fulfill it, if only because it will give his request to go back to his rightful world more weight.

Like he said; he’s not free from selfish tendencies).

Otogakure is underground.

Not exactly an ideal location should one start a fight. Not that Kaien is _planning_ on starting one, but with no map of the village for possible escape routes or traps he’s going in blind. Which is slightly nerve-wracking. He may have the shunpo, which _is_ faster than a shinobi’s shunshin, but they are on level playing fields when it comes to enhancing their speed by pumping energy into their muscles. So, yes, he _is_ faster than those humans here. However, that doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t know how to get out in an efficient manner.

“State your name and purpose.”

“Shiba Kaien.” He meets the guard’s eyes steadily, “I’m here to see Orochimaru-sama.”

One of them slips into the corridors, the other not even bothering to ask what reason he has for his visit. Which, Kaien will admit, is both a relief and a shock. He doesn’t think many people come here looking for allies that often, and although he could say he simply wants information that wouldn’t exactly be accurate. Lying outright like that, in this situation, won’t do him any good.

The guard returns soon enough with two others that escort him into the underground village. Their sandaled feet don’t echo while they walk through the stone tunnels, lit only by the sporadically dispersed lights dangling overhead or built into the walls.

It’s a small village. And probably considered to be a base rather than much else - there are no civilians, no children, and no markets in sight. There is not much a _village._

He can sense other life forces around him, hundreds, but not reaching a thousand. Some feel… odd, however. Their energy wavering in patterns that aren’t linked to any emotions he can place. It makes sense, when he really thinks about it; Orochimaru is a scientist and Kaien doesn’t doubt that he experiments while trying to look for his immortality.

The room that he is led into isn’t grand, or impressive. Not the giant chamber for a single throne or anything as dramatic as he had been expecting. Instead there is a desk in the center and bookshelves filled to the brim with all sorts of scrolls, bottles, and instruments covering every wall.

Orochimaru sits behind said desk, Kabuto standing loyally at his side. Gold eyes study Kaien, a curiosity in them that is just as much a threat as a sword to his throat. They linger on Nejibana, and on the way he holds himself. They narrow when they meet his own gaze.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” he inclines his head politely.

“We do not get visitors often, to what do I owe this pleasure?” The snake drawls, waving away the two shinobi that had brought the Shiba inside. Kaien doesn’t doubt that the hand he can’t see is wrapped around a weapon of some kind.

“I’ve come to request information,” he tells the snake. “And an alliance.”

The first statement garners no reaction, but the second earns him a raised eyebrow, “An alliance.”

“With Otogakure, yes.”

“We do not ally ourselves with wandering samurai,” the man says cuttingly in a clear dismissal of the idea.

Kaien snorts, arms crossing in front of him, “I’m not a samurai.”

“Oh?” The snake says with mock interest. And Kaien came here with absolutely no need to hide, no intentions to _not_ tell who is really is. Because he intends for Orochimaru to be an ally and something of a friend. And he knows that the snake won’t _believe_ him about anything unless he tells him the truth - not _all_ of it - because it’s best if no one but himself knows that - but enough of it.

“I’m Uzushio’s ghost.”

That earns him their interest and full attention.

“Prove it,” Kabuto challenges flatly.

“How?” Because it’s not like anyone has actually _seen_ him, he made sure of that. And those in the towns around him hadn’t known where he lived. “It’s not like they hand out name tags for this.”

“Everyone this side of the elemental nations has felt your energy bursts,” the silver-haired spy master tells him with a look that says his joke was _not_ appreciated.

Oh. Well. It makes a sort of sense, if Kaien is being honest. He hadn’t exactly held back and seals can only hide so much. (It’s times like these that he truly misses sekkiseki stones).

“So you want me to just, what, flair my reiastu?”

“Reiastu,” Orochimaru mimes, “is that what you call your energy? How creative.”

Kaien shrugs at the tease, not particularly caring. It’s not hard to let his control go a little bit, the rush of power that normally hums under his skin bursting out is always a pleasure. And by the looks on the faces of the two in front of him it proves his identity well enough.

Orochimaru hums, sitting back with a contemplative look on his face. Almost, Kaien dares to think, _excited._

“Why ally with us, then?” He asks conversationally, “Any one of the five nations would love to.”

“Like I said, I need information.”

“And what would that be, Shiba-san?” Kabuto questions.

“Everything you know about Akatsuki.” They don’t react, but it’s more deliberate than for lack of surprise.

“What makes you think we have any?”

“You used to be part of Akatsuki.”

A pause, then, “What will you do with it?”

“I’m going to destroy them,” Kaien states like a fact, as if it has already come to pass.

“It comes at a price.”

Kaien doesn’t think he just means the information.

He spends the rest of the year with Otogakure as his main base of operations - a place to settle of sorts, although he doesn’t spend more than a handful of days there at any given time. Not particularly fond of answering the staggering amount of questions Orochimaru has on Shinigami, nor participating in those tests that the snake comes up with - even if he _does_ get to choose which ones to do.

“You’ve convinced Nagato and Konan,” Orochimaru says outload as they circle each other, sweat dripping from both of their brows. And yes, he _had_. Even if the entire process had been more than nerve wracking and taken a good few years from Kaien’s life. It was worth it. Worth it to find out that _Madara_ is the true leader of Akatsuki.

(Which Kaien is _still_ trying to wrap his head around, because he thought that mortals didn’t live _that_ long. In fact, he is _positive_ that they don’t. Which can only mean that someone is impersonating the man and has the power to back up such a claim. Wonderful).

 “What’s your next step?”

“I’ve stopped them from getting the Mizukage, taken out two members, and turned two others against them,” he comments sidestepping a kunai and ducking under the jutsu that it acted as a distraction for. “It’s only a matter of time before the others come after me.”

“But taking out the Akatsuki isn’t your only goal,” the snake attacks. He blocks the first strike, the second, and the third, ducking under the kick and then twisting to come up under the man’s guard. But Orochimaru skips back a few steps and out of his range before his blow can connect.

“No,” Kaien agrees. “I need to stop Danzo as well.”

The name sends a spark of fire through the snake’s golden gaze. Anger, and betrayal and something akin to desired revenge. Orochimaru has already told Kaien enough horror stories about the bastard that he knows the danger of leaving him alone. Knows that the only way to start pushing this world into something resembling peace will be to take out the old war-hawk along with every other threat.

Orochimaru moves out of his defensive stance, a clear sign that their spar is over. Kaien follows his lead, moving to the side of the large chamber and grabbing a flask of water. When he turns back he notes that Orochimaru hasn’t turned away yet. In response he raises an eyebrow for the snake to speak whatever is on his mind.

“You’ll need to infiltrate Konohagakure.”


	8. Third year part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Ello my ever lovely readers,  
> I thought I would let you know that this (or the next) chapter will be the last chapter posted until August; I'm going on a trip over the summer and may or may not have access to this website. Of course I'll be writing so no worries there, but I thought I should let you know that I'm NOT abandoning this fic!  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy the latest chapter and please review!

Shimura Danzo.

Has Kaien mentioned that he truly, truly, loathes the man? Because he does. A lot.

_Especially_ in this moment.

“The council has decided that it is imperative to know your abilities,” Tsunade explains. Kaien can’t help but mentally snort at her wording; _the council._ Clearly trying to say that _she_ hadn’t authorized this, and therefore keep her in his good graces.

“Why?” Kaien asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Because having an unknown kekkai genkai in our village threatens its safety, boy,” Danzo speaks, leaning heavily on his cane, watching the Shiba. And… there it is, his lies coming back to bite him. He knew it would happen at some point; at least it’s in a manageable way.

He rolls his eyes, “I can understand that. I meant, why does the council need to be here for it?” The words hang heavily in the air, the implications of Danzo not trusting Konoha shinobi or Tsunade to report to him and the council properly chilling the atmosphere.

“Seeing with one’s own eyes is better than a report,” Danzo counters testily.

_‘Aa, yes. That must be why you were watching over every death battle you put children through. All to weed out the weakest,’_ he refrains from saying it, lets the anger and the disgust melt slowly away with the soothing presence of mind that this man will fall within the year. Within the next few months, weeks even, if everything goes to plan.

“Now, if you’re done questioning us we shall start the test.”

This time he stops the eye roll before it happens, “By all means,” he waves. “I don’t meant to keep you from your desk.”

Danzo doesn’t give any sign that the insult hit home, but from the way Tsunade smirks everyone else caught on.

_“That’s enough,”_ Nejibana says from within him. _“Antagonizing Danzo will do you no good. Focus, the battle is about to begin.”_

Kaien moves away from the elders, sliding to stand in the middle of the training ground across from Kakashi. And _of course_ it’s the Hatake that they have him fighting against. It was most likely Tsunade that brought up the idea - a known loyal shinobi, instead of one of Danzo’s ROOT members.

He knows that he could refuse. Walk away from this, say that they have no right to demand this of him and that he has no obligations to accept their challenge. But he needs their trust to dissuade any possible opinions of malicious or illegal intent. And if he refuses it will only cause further problems, as they will most likely demand that he have extra security in order to compromise. Knowing Danzo, those extra shinobi will be from his own ROOT members and Kaien doesn’t _need_ more of them following him around. It would set his entire operation into a spiral of failure. It’s difficult enough already to slip under his ANBU guard with Nejibana, and repeatedly going through that alleyway will only cause suspicion leading to his discovery.

(They have maybe two more repeats of that before needing to stop. After that Kaien will need to risk night excursions and giving his guards the slip in order to gather the proper amount of intelligence).

_“And remember, I will not answer your call.”_

_‘I know.’_

**_“Even against the Hatake?”_** Kurama settles besides the spirit in his inner world.

_“This is a mere spar. There won’t be any death blows,’_ Nejibana waves a delicate hand, robes swishing with the motion. _“And if my flower doesn’t win it will only help deflate his ego.”_

Kaien pointedly blocks them out, shifting into his personal twist on the standard Shiba hakuda style. While he is adept in the Shinigami style of both hakuda and hohou, the styles used by the Shiba are ones he has grown up learning and mastering. The result is something of a mixture of the two, relying heavily on speed, agility and endurance. While he is nowhere near the same level as the second division captain he likes to think he would hold his own against their lieutenant.

Across from him, Kakashi falls into his own taijutsu stance his sharingan eye exposed and spinning lazily. Kaien knows he’ll need to end this quickly, no need to reveal more than he has to. (Although Nejibana said she would not answer Kaien knows that if he truly is in danger she will not hesitate). And by the look in the Hatake’s eyes this spar is going to be used to let out whatever anger the man holds towards him and his supposed participation in Naruto’s death.

Tsunade walks forward, eyes scanning both of them for a moment, “Just don’t kill each other.” And then her hand is falling between them, arm cutting a swift slice through the air and breaking the building tension, “Hajime!” The word marks her shunshin to the sidelines to observe.

“Bakudo one: Sai!” Kaien jumps back, letting the distraction of dodging allow him time to get far enough to give him breathing room. Enough to start the words for his next attack, but not enough to be out of range for the fire jutsu Kakashi sends his way. “You who-“

He ducks, spinning to the left, “-is crowned with the name of Man-“ he cuts off with a mental curse, Nejibana sliding happily from her sheath to knock away the chakra infused kunai flying towards him. A normal kunai will do little to him by way of actual damage, his hierro is strong enough to let them slide off with nothing but a bruise at most. But a chakra enhanced one will slice quite nicely through his defenses and Kaien doesn’t fancy being cut to bits. He continues his incantation nonetheless, “Wearing a Mask of blood-“

And then Kakashi is _there_ , but it’s a clone, not the original. He blocks the first taijutsu attack, swiping away the roundhouse kick on instinct alone, “-and flesh, flying on ten-thousand fluttering wings-“ this time he cuts himself off completely, not bothering to continue as the clone sends a volley of weapons to stick threateningly out of the place he just stood. This doesn’t seem right. Kakashi wouldn’t send just one clone to fight him.

He lets go. Let his reishi spread like wings around him, creating a sea of awareness. Two more clones, each circling to come around behind him, another moving underground. The real Kakashi is off in a tree to observe.

Well, if he wants to play this kind of game, then Kaien will gladly break all the rules.

“Bakudo eight: Seki,” Kaien murmurs, not bothering to continue with his last attack. He brings his arms up, letting the clone hit the limb at full strength, not deflecting the energy at all. It blasts the bunshin away, the sound of a pop and smoke briefly filling the atmosphere indicating its disappearance.

He jumps just as the other clone comes up from beneath him, not bothering to fall back to the earth Kaien lets his reishi harden the air beneath him.

He looks down at the clones with a raised eyebrow, holding out a hand to his side a yellow light crackling brightly within his palm. With movement too fluid to be anything but practiced Kaien creates a triangle with the reishi, “Bakudo thirty; Shtotsu Sansen.”

Only one clone escapes.

He holds back a frown; it would be best to not show any more kido, which means he can rely only on those his opponent already knows, hand-to-hand, and his sword work.

With this in mind he lets himself fall back down meeting the clone squarely, brandishing Nejibana. This time, he charges. The clone doesn’t last long, their exchange of blows too brutal for it to escape every attack Kaien sends its way.

With a huff he spins to face the tree, “Are you going to come out now or what?!”

“Maa, maa, no need to be so impatient, Shiba-chan.” The man in question shunshins into view, a kunai already being thrown. Kaien leans to the side, allowing the blade to skim just shy of his face. He cuts the wire attached with his sword.

“Kaien,” he corrects automatically, “or Kaien-sama, take your pick.”

He blocks the next attack, and the next.

Then he’s jumping back, skidding to the side to avoid yet another clone’s barrage of kunai. No need for them to know that normal kunai can’t hurt him.

He lets out a low curse, using shunpo to avoid a fire-ball powered by a wind jutsu while taking the time to get behind the man’s remaining clone. Nejibana slices so nicely through the configuration of chakra. The smoke giving him cover to climb into the sky a few feet before dropping back down behind the man. Kakashi simply jumps over Kaien’s sweep at his legs, shuriken digging into the earth that the Shiba has just been on.

When he touches down again he curses, the feel of chakra spiking beneath him a clear sign that he has just stepped into a trap. Not wasting the breath to think about it Kaien jumps to the side, flash stepping away from the explosion as it rocks the earth and tree limbs nearby.

Kakashi really isn’t pulling any punches.

The shinobi has had time to set up a few traps. How fun. Meaning Kaien has to be aware of _where_ the man is putting his attacks as well. And not only that, but Kaien’s distraction at this development and need to not be blown up by said development has allowed Kakashi precious time.

Time that he could have used to do anything from set up more traps to create a new plan of attack.

Well, for now all he needs to do is keep above the ground then. And that should be easy enough; having to fight while constantly focusing the reishi in the air into a hard surface is something he is used to.

“Bakudo nine: Geki,” he calls out, knowing he had used this against Deidara and that the Hatake has therefore seen it. The red energy surges forward, ripping into the ground and any possible traps in that area. Kakashi dodges with a few well performed applications of shunsin that would make even Yoruichi proud.

Taking the opening for what it is Kaien shunpos into the surrounding forest, ducking and weaving through the trees until he decides the distance is enough that he can stop. He needs a moment to gather his thoughts.

He can feel Kakashi giving chase, but there is enough time to set up a rudimentary trap - one of the few he actually remembers from the academy and his time as a genin. A set of kunai and shuriken later, a tree trunk and a few yards of ninja wire and Kaien steps back to wait.

It will at least take out a clone if nothing else. But it’s more of a distraction so that he can hit his old sensei with a binding kido.

It works, if only until the end. His kido binding a log instead of the copy-nin.

_‘Well,’_ he muses as he meets the man’s blows, _‘it was worth a shot.’_

**_“It was a basic trap that any genin can make. Of course he would escape you dimwitted monkey.”_ **

_‘Not helpful.’_

**_“I wasn’t trying to be. Behind you.”_ **

Kaien pushes back hard against the next blow, spinning as the space between them opens up an inch more to duck under and into the attacking clone’s defenses. The pop of smoke covers him as he shunpos onto a tree branch nearby. The break doesn’t last long, just enough for him to bring up his blade for the next attack.

“Bakudo one: Sai,” he intones, watching in satisfaction as Kakashi has to shunshin away. Giving him enough time to let off another kido, “Bakudo nine: Geki!”

He holds back on the power, not wanting to destroy too much of the trees that have treated him well for shelter, convenient shields, and setting up his previously failed trap.

Kakashi lands unharmed on a branch not far from him, “We need to take this back towards the clearing, Shiba-san.”

“Right,” Kaien laughs roughly, ignoring the form of address used, “we don’t want the council to miss the show.”

The man hums, “It would be a shame.”

“Yeah, real _shame._ After they made the trek all the way out here,” he rolls his eyes, easily batting away the kunai that the man lobs almost lazily in his direction.

“Dismissing our council so easily isn’t earning you any favors.”

“Who said I wanted any?” Kaien raises an eyebrow.

“You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.” And then he throws one more kunai and suddenly Kaien can’t move his arms.

_‘Ninja-wire,’_ he holds back any reaction. The wire only tightens as he shifts to test its strength, and then there is a kunai at his neck and a clone at his back.

“Don’t move.”

He gives the real Kakashi the look that comment deserves as the man approaches. A slow, measured approach - one used when one is coming to apprehend a cornered animal. Kaien meets his grey eye squarely. Letting _one_ more technique be known won’t kill him, and letting himself get caught by these wires is the perfect opportunity to get close enough to attack.

“Hadou eleven: Tsuzuri Raiden.” The electricity travels along the kunai pressed precariously against his skin. The sudden shock that is creates destroys the clone holding him. It travels along the wires all the way to the kunai pinning them, snapping the metal weapons from the trees as the shock bursts and splinters the wood.

Not wasting any time he raises Nejibana, rushing the few remaining steps that separate him and the Hatake. Blades clang, metal scrapes, a heartbeat passes and they are breaking apart. There is a cut running along the man’s flack-jacket that extends to dig enough into his sleeve to draw a small sliver of blood. Kaien doesn’t let himself lose time, however, following Kakashi with a shunpo as the man jumps to another tree branch as if to escape. He doesn’t exactly catch up to the Hatake with the flash step, landing on the branch a hairsbreadth after the shinobi leaves. A branch that proceeds to blow up.

The wood doesn’t exactly pierce his skin, but the heat and the blast disorient him for a moment, allowing Kakashi to get in close. He blocks the chakra enhanced blade sloppily before finding his footing in the air with a concentration of reishi. Best to stay off the branches.

He reaches into his own pouch as Kakashi lands on a tree, digging out a handful of senbon he throws the weapons, distracting him long enough that Kaien has time to shunpo behind the Hatake, watching with a smile as the man doubles over in pain. He had used the blunt side of Nejibana to ensure no real damage, but the blow couldn’t have been a walk in the park.

But then the fox inside him huffs, a flickering brush of the biju’s tails grates against his mindscape and the image of Kakashi disappears to see the quickly dispersing wisps of a clone’s smoke. Genjutsu then, placed over the clone to hide its popping so that Kaien will think he has landed a proper hit.

To top it off he hadn’t sensed the switch. Without a second to contemplate what he just witnessed any further Kaien is flash stepping away. Senses stretching out and finding Kakashi already heading back towards the clearing where the council and rest of his new-old team wait.

He follows after.

This is going to be a longer fight than he first hoped.

* * *

 

Kaien wins. But it is a closer call than he ever wants to have happen again. Even if he _had_ limited himself to the bare minimum and restrained the power behind some of his attacks. He hadn’t spent the last three years training to get so close to being beaten so easily.

But the council seems satisfied for now and the rest of team Kakashi impressed enough by the fight that Kaien thinks they won’t have to deal with the rest of today’s planned mock battles.

“That was quite the display,” Tsunade comments eyeing the destroyed field and most likely thinking of how much paperwork it’s going to cost her to get genin teams to fix it. She turns to the council then, eyebrow quirked, “Was that sufficient?”

“That was very informative,” Danzo nods, never taking his gaze off of Kaien. “It will prove helpful when he decides to attack the village.”

Kaien holds in his eye roll, instead opting to give a deadpan stare in the elder’s direction, _‘What is with everyone and thinking I’m going to attack?’_

_“Technically, you are.”_

_‘But only_ technically. _And they don’t_ know _that.’_

“Are you questioning my decision to allow him in our village?” Tsunade bites out, all deadly intent and threatening danger. The councilman seems no more moved by her venom than by the small breeze that brushes softly through the clearing.

“Of course not, Hokage-sama.” The man doesn't even bother to make his tone _sound_ sincere, “I am merely thinking in terms of what’s best for the village. Welcoming a man who comes from an unheard of land, what was it called… Rukongai?”

He nods, knowing that if he doesn’t then it will do him no good; really the information is useless anyway, and all Danzo is doing is saying that if he knows this fact than he knows others. It’s a threat. One that Kaien recognizes as both false and true in one. Because even if the information is meaningless without further context the implications of it aren’t. An unknown place. An unknown kekkai genkai. No true affiliations. All of these piling up can seem very dangerous to the council governing Konoha; and if they pile too high then Tsunade will have no choice but to come after him.

“Rukongai, into this village can prove insecure. Who knows what he has been doing these past few years, let alone during his life,” Danzo continues, staring down both Tsunade and Kaien with a look that could kill. But this was directed at him, a question within a statement wrapped up nicely with a warning.

“Just keeping the ghosts away,” he shrugs, placing one hand onto his hip while the other goes up to grab its corresponding shoulder - the one that aches slightly because getting slammed into a tree is never a comfortable experience. “It’s kind of a full time job.”

“When you said you lost your family,” Tsunade frowns, obviously calculating the extent of his psychological damage, “you meant all of them.”

“Yes,” the word is a simple admission that costs him nothing and everything. She already knows of his lost family, and the rest know he is a clan-less clan head. And it’s true. He has spent the last three years running from ghosts just as much as chasing them. And before that… well he _was_ Shinigami, after all.

Danzo seems no more satisfied than before, but the man obviously knows that pushing the matter further at the moment will do him no favors. So with all the grace of a retired shinobi, the man turns before dismissing himself from their company. The whole of the council starts to follow at Tsunade’s nod of dismissal.

Before joining she looks over at them, “Meet me in my office at dawn tomorrow for a mission. And that includes _all_ of you.” Turning with a flair to follow the rest of the departing party - even if she doesn’t look particularly happy to do so - she leaves them all in the mid-afternoon light confused and slightly wary of what’s to come.

Sasuke is the one to break the silence, “Those techniques you were using… I can’t copy them with the sharingan.”

He raises an eyebrow, not at all surprised to realize the boy has tried, “Kekkai genkai.”

The answer earns him narrowed eyes but nothing else is said by the boy and Kaien counts that as a win.

Kakashi is the next to speak up, “You said your techniques require words, but you didn’t us any except for at the beginning.”

“They do,” he nods. “But if you practice enough you can forgo them altogether.” He shakes his head then, “Enough about me. I want to know what practice with you is going to be like.”


	9. Third year part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Ello my lovely readers,
> 
> It’s been a while… and well, I don’t have any reason other than this chapter was a b*tch to write for some reason. It’s long, though, so there’s that… hope it’s worth the wait!
> 
> Anyway, onto the newest chapter, I hope you all enjoy!

 

Training, as it turns out, is mostly team drills. Not that Kaien is complaining, mind you. After the battle he had he is more than thankful for the less intense session that rides out their hours until sunset. He also thinks it’s for the best seeing as they will, apparently, be going on a mission together the next day. The thought of being out of the village is a nice one. Even if he’s only been here for barely a day and a half it doesn’t exactly sit well with him to be so confined. Not only by the walls, but by the politics and lies he has spun so finely.

That night he doesn’t send Nejibana out, knowing that Danzo’s ROOT base and office will be teeming with shinobi sorting files and most likely updating seals after today’s events. It’s not worth the risk. Best to wait a few days before sending her out again. They won’t find the seals his spirit placed, however, only pure reishi can reveal their designs. He has never been more thankful for the difference in their energy make up.

He’s awake before dawn. Nightmares are the best and the worst kind of alarm clock to have. But it means that he is on time to the Hokage tower, arriving just as Sakura herself is opening the wooden doors. Pastel pink hair looks paler in the morning light, cut short and out of the way for safety and unobstructed vision. Kaien can’t help but think that his old teammate has truly grown into the idea of being a kunoichi. Her terrifying ability to make the earth split that she demonstrated the day before evidence enough.

Kaien is glad for it, because the world is a cruel thing, and death is just as bad - Rukongai is no place for the light of heart, and Soul Society requires a certain perseverance to truly excel.

Sakura greets Tsunade with a warm smile and, “Good morning, shishou.”

And that… explains a lot, actually. From the strength to the medical prowess to the diamond that looked oh-so-familiar on her forehead.

“Sakura,” the woman greets, “Shiba-san. I trust that training went well yesterday.”

“Kashi-sensei had us run team building exercises,” the pinket explains, continuing towards the desk even as Kaien has stopped a respectful distance away. The Hokage doesn’t even bat an eye as the girl starts sorting out the papers and cleaning away sake bottles.

“Good,” Tsunade leans back, “you’ll need to know how to work with each other for missions.”

Green eyes blink, “He’ll be going on missions? But I thought…” the Hokage raises an eyebrow as the pinket trails off. “It’s just that protocol states missing-nin are given a probationary period before officially being placed on the roster for missions.”

There is a small pause in which the Hokage studies her pupil, before she gives a small nod, “Normally that would be the case, but under certain circumstances that protocol can be dismissed in favor of benefiting the village.”

Sakura nods, stepping back as she finishes her meticulous organization of the desk. Kaien watches all of this with interest, it seems that Sakura is being groomed for more than just the head-medic position. But it strikes Kaien as strange; Hokage had never been her dream, and even now she doesn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about being taught the ropes to one day be gifted the hat. Or, perhaps, she is being taught to be something more along the lines of an assistant? It matters little now, however, and soon the politics of Konoha will mean little to him.

Tenzo and Sai arrive next, Sasuke coming not long after. Kakashi, of course, the only one missing, and from the looks on everyone’s faces they are prepared to wait. Even Tsunade gives no sign of surprise at this behavior.

So his previous deduction had been correct; Kakashi makes a habit out of being late.

An hour.

They have been waiting for an _hour._ There is no way this isn’t insubordination. In Soul Society if someone was this late they would be punished, heavily, depending on what they were late for. He isn’t sure the price of such a disrespect when it comes to captain and lieutenant meetings - no one dares to be late for those.

It takes another half hour before Kaien senses Kakashi appear.

“Maa, sorry I’m late,” the man steps in through the window, all eye-smiles and lazy posture, “I saw a couple of lost ghosts on the side of the road. I just had to stop and help them.”

Kaien doesn’t let himself react to the obvious jab at his own answer to Danzo’s question the day before. Really, the Hatake could have been a bit more subtle about it. Besides, everyone else seems to be ignoring it as well.

“Now that you’re all here,” Tsunade starts, and everyone’s attention is on her, “we can get started. I called you here because of the information Sakura and Tenzo brought to me.” A scroll is placed carefully on the desk, “Akasuna no Sasori is to meet with a spy in Orochimaru’s ranks in eight days, including today. I want you six to go and meet them instead. You will leave in five days.”

He makes sure to keep his face blank; so not only do they not know about his connections to Orochimaru, but it also seems that the snake has a disguised mongoose in its nest. He’ll send word in two days, but instinct and two years of knowing the man tells him that the reply will be to wait until the meeting. To have Kaien figure out the identity first. And seeing as he is part of the team designated to meet them it should be easy to get the news back to the sannin and let him deal with it from there.

“The mission is not all,” the Hokage informs them, and suddenly a swift wave of chakra sets off privacy seals around the office, ANBU disappearing from the room in practiced formation. “I think it’s only right that your team knows first,” she starts, “but I request you don’t tell the others until I do.” When she gets a round of nods and _‘Hai, Hokage-sama’_ s she continues, “I will be stopping the search parties for Naruto in two months.”

The room becomes deathly silent, before Sasuke’s hissing voice cuts like a sword into the weighted air, “What?”

“We have been sending out teams to find him for three years, Uchiha-san.”

“So you’re just going to give up on him then?!” The burst comes from Sakura this time, anger filling green eyes just as much as resignation.

“We are expending valuable resources every time we send out a team. The kyuubi’s reforming two years ago makes it evident that Naruto is no longer-“

The Hokage doesn’t finish her sentence, Sasuke, clearly not willing to hear the end of it, leaves through the window with a flurry of motion. Sakura gives chase, calling the boy back in reprimand for his actions and in a hopeful attempt to sooth his emotions as well as her own.

Kaien knew they had sent out patrols to look for him - or, well not _him,_ him, but _past_ him. _Naruto_ him. Knew that they clearly still cared. But watching Sasuke lose his temper, watching Sakura go ten shades paler, watching Kakashi’s fists clench and Tsunade’s careful non-reaction. Watching it all truly put into perspective exactly what his first death left behind.

“You’re all dismissed,” Tsunade waves them away, rubbing at her temples and muttering about needing a drink. Kaien doesn’t protest the opportunity to leave, hand twitching with the desire to rub at his chest, just above his heart. Just above where he seems to suddenly ache.

(He remembers how Rukia had believed that Shinigami did not feel emotions like those of the living - that Gods of Death simply were not capable of such sentimentality. He hopes she doesn’t believe that misleading lie forever).

* * *

 

“Have you ever tried a jutsu?”

These are the words that greet him as he walks into the training grounds the next day, it makes him blink several times, taking in the eager energy that the pink-haired medic has as she waits for his answer.

“I have,” he says slowly, thinking back to when Orochimaru had made him try a high level suiton jutsu just to see if he could, “it ended… poorly.”

_“Poorly,”_ Nejibana snorts a laugh inside his mind, _“you nearly blew yourself up.”_

“Why?” He asks, taking a step backwards in case she gets any ideas about having him demonstrate.

“Well, Sasuke said he couldn’t copy your techniques and I was wondering if you could use ours,” the girl explains easily, tapping her chin as she narrows her eyes at him. He, smartly in his opinion, decides to move to the other side of the clearing to warm up.

Kakashi arrives only an hour late surprisingly enough, two scrolls in hand.

“We’ll be taking d-ranks to build up your teamwork,” the man announces in a sugary-sweet voice.

Kaien doesn’t remember much from his time as a genin, but the sentence makes a shiver of dread run down his spine. From the looks on the faces of his teammates it’s for good reason.

“We’re jounin,” Sasuke says evenly, eyes sparking with what Kaien can only guess to be annoyance.

Kakashi ignores the comment completely, obviously knowing that such actions will frustrate the boy more than answering ever could. “First, I think we’ll weed.”

“And by ‘we’ you mean _us_ and not you,” the words come blandly from Sakura’s mouth as she crosses her arms over her chest.

It earns her an eye smile. “Maa, Sakura-chan, you would make your sensei help with a mere d-rank?”

Kaien snorts, “He’s right, Haruno-san. You shouldn’t make old men do too much physical labor, they might pull something.”

* * *

 

“In position,” Kaien murmurs over their headset.

“Ready when you boys are.”

“I have the target in sight.”

“On three,” Tenzo speaks up, voice hushed and clearly concentrating. “One. Two. _Three.”_

The creature dodges the sprouting vines, ducks the kunai and attached wires, skids past grabbing fists and disappears into the undergrowth just before Sai’s ink-lion blocks the path.

Kaien has never been more frustrated by a cat in his life. He used flash-step, _flash-step_ , for crying out loud.

“Remember,” Kakashi sing-songs, “we need to catch Tora by six if we want to be paid.”

“That’s in ten minutes!” Sakura cries out.

“Maa, then you better get moving!”

Kaien’s going to murder him, damn his plans and the up-coming mission. He is going to murder Kakashi and the world will know peace. Or, at the very least, his inner world will. Kurama and Nejibana have yet to stop laughing since this entire d-rank mission started.

**_“A cat! You are being bested by a_ cat _!”_**

_‘Shut up!’_

“Let’s just get moving,” he huffs, letting his reishi track the animal’s soul energy.

“Who put you in charge?” Sasuke snorts, his sharingan eye blazing. A demon. This cat must be some form of demon to avoid all of them.

“We have nine minutes, Uchiha,” Kaien says flatly. “Do you really want to fight now?”

It gets him a flat look, but the boy moves forward as if to follow and Kaien simply turns and leaps away. They succeed in the end, even if they show up a half-hour late, they manage to capture the demon creature and blame their tardiness on Kakashi’s habits. Kaien can’t say he’s surprised the daimyo’s wife takes the explanation at face-value.

Kakashi stays behind as they leave, Tsunade obviously looking for a full report on their teamwork, as well as Kaien’s attitude and abilities.

“This is all your fault,” Sasuke hisses as the boy brushes past him while they exit the Hokage tower.

Kaien blinks. Once. Twice. “How?”

“Our team is thrown off completely because of you,” the boy rounds on him.

“You do know most shinobi work with several different teams,” Kaien raises an eyebrow, but continues before anyone else can comment. “Look, it’s obvious you don’t want me on this team, but I’m here. Whether you like it or not won’t change that.” He pauses for a moment, letting his words sink in, “We have a mission coming up, and succeeding requires we work together. Now, you can either accept that or get someone hurt for refusing.”

“This isn’t some team-bonding moment,” Sasuke says coldly, “a few words aren’t going to change how dysfunctional our attacks are. Your timing was off by _three_ seconds.”

“And you didn’t move nearly as fast as I know you can,” Kaien counters with a scowl. “We all made mistakes, you can’t pin this on me.”

“He’s right, we were all sloppy today,” Sakura tries to defuse the tension.

“That’s not the point. Trusting others to have your back while you walk forward, that’s a team.” Sasuke takes a step, cutting the space between them down. “And I don’t trust you.”

Kaien’s scowl deepens, “I haven’t given you any reason to distrust me.”

“You haven’t given me any reason _to_ trust you,” Sasuke counters. “Too many coincidences since you started making a name for yourself.”

Oh. _Oh._ “You blame me.” Kaien says with no small amount of wonder, scowl turning into a frown as he rests his hands on his hips. “There is no proof I had anything to do with it.”

“There’s no proof that you didn't.”

“Sasuke,” Sakura steps up beside him, but the boy shrugs off the hand placed on his shoulder.

“Admit it,” the words come out a hushed growl, “you’re the reason Tsunade stopped the patrols.”

Green eyes grow wide, flickering from the Uchiha to Kaien with calculations written clear in their depths. “Which means…”

“He knows what happened to Naruto and where the kyuubi is,” Sasuke finishes, threat heavy in his chakra that starts to rise in the air around them. The rest of Team Kakashi standing back slightly to watch the proceedings.

“I had no idea Tsunade was going to stop the patrols,” Kaien says evenly, meeting each of his old-teammate’s eyes. “I have nothing to do with Naruto-san, and I have never sealed the kyuubi.”

_“You’re walking a fine line, my flower, be careful.”_

_‘I doubt he’ll tell Kakashi if that’s what you’re thinking, and if he does the Hatake will just think I lied to keep anyone from listening in.’_

Nejibana hums, _“You underestimate them because they’re human.”_

_‘I do not.’_

_“You do, and it will do you nothing but harm if you continue,”_ Nejibana chides. Her words spot Kaien from a reply; they sink deep and bring flashes of treating those in Soul Society equally. But now he looks at those before him and all he can think is _alive, human, weak, squishable._ So, perhaps he truly is underestimating-

“I never said anything about sealing,” Sasuke breaks him from his thoughts looking smug and murderous.

Kaien raises an eyebrow, “You think there would be any other way to know where the beast is _besides_ sealing it?”

“Hn,” the Uchiha narrows his eyes.

**_“Stubborn Uchiha,”_** Kurama grumbles, **_“that clan is always causing trouble.”_**

_“Our flower has brought this on himself,”_ Nejibana sniffs.

_‘Thanks for the support,’_ he says flatly.

_“You know very well that I’ll protect you to the best of my abilities. I have for decades, so I’m allowed to complain when you make it harder.”_

* * *

The day he sends out the message to Orochimaru through Kabuto’s networks that run like spider webs through Konoha’s ranks he gets two messages. One appears like an origami swan, sitting happily on his folded sleeping mat when he makes his way to bed. The other comes crawling across his counter in the clutches of one of the Mizukage’s crab summons as he reads Konan’s message. The creature all too happy to poof out of existence once Kaien takes the slightly damp parcel of paper. It’s his monthly report from the Kage, explaining that all has been quiet and that they haven’t heard any further rumors of Akatsuki’s movements.

The first, Konan’s neat handwriting delicately painted across the page, explains in their decided code that they have been compromised. Zetsu or Madara having caught on to their deception and, although not outright calling them on it, have taken to giving orders themselves without consult of either Ame resident.

The news makes Kaien’s stomach drop - he won’t know what the Akatsuki’s movements are now. Which, he knew, would come eventually; their ploy couldn’t have lasted forever and he knew that the second it started. He just thought it would last a bit longer.

Frustration comes hot and fast; it’s no wonder he hadn’t known about Gaara being targeted beforehand. And now this means that he will need to get a message to the Mizukage to watch out; that the Akatuski could very well strike there next and Kaien won’t _know,_ won’t be able to _stop_ anything in time. Won’t be able to save him should the beast be extracted.

* * *

 

He can see it. As much as he loathes to admit. Can see the way the missions degrade from bettering Konoha and her forces to a tug of war for power. Can see them slip into vile pits of destroying something because then what is stolen won’t be missed - won’t be _noticed._ Can see the degradation of Danzo’s schemes with each hour he sits - breathe held like a gem in his chest to not draw attention by the sound of air rustling paper - reading cover to cover the missions and reports categorized in ROOT’s archives.

The hours of sleep that his misses for these nightly excursions are more than worth the information gathered. The stolen bits and pieces of information that won’t be missed - because there is no purpose in the man hunting them down now, _years_ after their completion. He seals the files securely into a scroll.

It takes him four nights to find documentation on the seals placed onto the tongues of those shinobi initiated into ROOT. The process by with ROOT members are chosen sickens him even further than such a controlling force over someone’s life. To have _children_ kill each other for the soul purpose of making them suppress emotions is nightmarish. And he says suppress because emotions cannot be taken so easily - the Shinigami are a prime example, no matter their boisterous claims of not feeling human emotions anymore Kaien has watched too often and seen too much evidence to the contrary.

He copies everything he can from the seal information - this scroll will be missed, but making a copy of it is not impossible.

But he still hasn’t found information on Akatsuki, present or past.

Nothing on Ame or even Hanzo. But he still has a good half of these archives to sift through yet, and part of him feels this information may very well be elsewhere.

Although his search _has_ revealed more about the Uchiha massacre; the planning behind it that was years in advance, the hunger for power that drove it. All of it written out neatly in scrolls. Some of his conclusions more implied by wording but other so clearly spelled out that it makes his stomach churn. Kaien can hardly imagine being forced to kill of his family - he would sooner kill the person trying to pull the strings than bring harm to those that are precious to him - so he can’t say he understands Itachi’s position. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to make his position known. After all, Kaien intends to see to it that all of Danzo’s infractions are brought to light. Itachi’s is just one more added to that ever growing list.

For the next night he will rest, and when he returns from his mission he will send Nejibana to create a distraction in the northern portion of the ROOT base. Close enough to Danzo’s office that it will draw the man out and not make him think that the files kept there are the target. But also far enough away that Kaien will have more than enough time to get in and search the files for intel to be sent back to Nagato and Konan.

* * *

 

Dawn is a struggle to wake up for. After nights of restless research and avoidance of his ANBU guards Kaien has little energy left. But he is to meet with the spy among Orochimaru’s ranks today, and that requires leaving the village at sunrise. So he drags himself out from under his blankets with begrudgingly heavy eye-lids, and eats a simple breakfast of fruits and coffee. Ten minutes later sees he is waiting at the gates with the whole team except Kakashi - of course. But the Hatake doesn’t make them wait long; perhaps his bad habits don’t extend so far as to disrupt missions.

The weather is mild and they set a blistering pace heading west towards the Tenchi bridge that lies along the border of fire country. Kaien lets his reishi wash over his muscles and enhance each jump he makes, although the enhancement is not pushing him nearly as fast as the shinobi he is following. He knew this would be a problem, and although his speed through reishi support has become quicker since arriving in this world it is not to satisfaction.

In short, this weakness makes him lag and feel the strain in his legs faster. He debates using a slower shunpo to keep up, because he can shunpo for hours on end and keep going, but his slowest shunpo is the speed of mediocre shunshin and would definitely be noticed. So he grits his teeth and rides out their pace until their first break.

A break during which he has to flash-step to avoid being pinned to a tree by an irritated Sasuke.

“What the hell are you doing?” The Uchiha demands, “Are you trying to make us late to the meeting with that pace?!”

“Duck-butt is correct,” Sai speaks up. “Your current pace will result in failure of our mission.”

He shifts slightly, because admitting to the fact he can’t keep up with this kind of movement makes a sour taste fill his mouth that feels despairingly like pride.

“Well?!” Sasuke presses when Kaien doesn’t answer immediately.

“I am…” he searches for the right word, “not accustomed to this kind of travel.”

“Not-“ Sasuke blinks. “You avoided our best ANBU teams and you’re saying you’re _not accustomed_ to-“

“I used shunpo when losing their trail,” Kaien cuts the boy off.

“So,” Sakura joins in, “what you’re saying is that your energy doesn’t work for more physical activities.”

Kaien shrugs, “Shunpo is just easier and less draining than pumping reishi into muscles to enhance their speed for long periods of time.”

“It might be due to your lack of physical energy,” Sakura mumbles, tapping thoughtfully at her lips, absently starting to follow behind Kakashi and Tenzo as they motion to start their journey again.

“We don’t have the time to figure this out now,” Kakashi calls back, “you’ll have to endure it.”

Kaien holds in a sigh, even Nejibana and Kurama have been silent on the matter, which means that there is nothing to be done but endure the discomfort and try to push himself to keep pace. “Don’t slow down for me,” he tells the team as they once again take to the trees. “I’ll use shunpo if I fall behind.”

And he does. Several times, in fact. By the time they reach their first camping site Kaien is more tired than he had planned for; more tired than would be ideal should a threat make itself known. But he’ll manage. As it stands this gives him a good idea of what his limits are during missions, even more so than his training the last few years has. And it makes it even more satisfying to spread himself over his sleeping mat and let the pleasure of sleep wash over him. One that, thankfully, lacks visions of his dearly lost squad and beloved wife. (Nejibana and Kurama work hard to keep such dreams at bay, but even they can only do so much).

They arrive at their target location the next day, the shadows of night falling heavily and the meeting to take place tomorrow. Kakashi takes the lead on their plans, as the captain of the mission he has the final say on all matters; although it feel strange as it has been some time since Kaien has been at such a rank to take orders from those lower than Jushiro or Yamamoto’s status.

“Tenzo will go in first,” Kakashi explains, “he can use his wood-release to replicate Sasori’s puppet body.”

Kaien blinks, that’s the first he’s heard of Tenzo holding such a power, _‘Wood-release? That explains why his chakra feels like spring.’_

**_“It’s a nuisance, that thrice-damned Senju used it to help seal me and my siblings.”_ **

_‘So it can control biju-chakra?’_

**_“More like help contain it,”_** Kurama huffs, his tails swishing. Kaien makes the mental note that such a technique could prove both dangerous and helpful depending on what side Kaien faces it from.

“The rest of us will be positioned along the tree line to observe,” Kakashi continue, “no one moves unless I give a signal.”

There is a round of nods and sharp glances before they settle down into their camp, the sound of the forest like a lullaby around them. Kaien has first watch and gives no complaints, more than happy to have the time to clear his mind and let his reishi expand out around him. The sudden awareness always a feeling he has reveled in. He can feel everything, from the way a mouse scurries a few meters away to the tree that just lost a few leaves in the wind to their south. Even while in soul society his sensory abilities hadn’t been to this extent. He theorizes that it has something to do with the fact that everything here isn’t simply made up of spirit particles but _has_ them, and then has this budding energy of life that makes it so much more vivid. Physical energy is what the shinobi in this world call it.

Three hours later, when Kaien is letting his reishi observe a fox stalking through the undergrowth, Sasuke settles next to him.

“You still have half an hour,” Kaien tells him, not even bothering to glance over, “it’s not smart to waste it.”

“I’m not.”

Kaien raises an eyebrow, “You aren’t sleeping, so I’d say you are.”

“Since when did I start caring what you say?”

“You didn’t get the memo? I sent it out last week.”

“I’m not here to make small talk,” Sasuke cuts the banter off. Kaien remains silent, waiting for the Uchiha to continue. What comes next is not so much an explanation as it is an accusation, “You know something about Naruto and the kyuubi.”

“I thought we already established I didn’t.”

“Sensei says you were there,” Sasuke tells him, “when Naruto and I fought at the Valley of the End.”

“I was,” Kaien concedes, “and I’ll tell you what I told Kakashi, Naruto-san was dead when I got there. I left when I sensed your sensei.”

“Why?”

“It wouldn’t look good for a foreigner to get caught with two defeated leaf shinobi.”

 Sasuke snorts, “And stealing a body looks better?”

“I didn’t take his body.” Kaien shakes his head, “and I don’t know what happened to it. For all anyone knows the current may have took him.”

“Where was he?”

“What?”

"Where was he? On the shore or in the river?”

Kaien looks upward, letting the memory of that time come back to him. It’s vivid, but skewed as if he were seeing it from two points of view at once. “I don’t remember,” he finally murmurs out.

“You don’t remember,” the Uchiha deadpans.

He shrugs, “The position of one dead body seen three years ago doesn’t exactly stay with you.”

“Hn, that doesn’t change the fact the Hokage wouldn’t just stop the patrols,” Sasuke narrows his eyes, clearly trying to attack from a different angle. Testing for weaknesses. “She never mentioned it, even when we felt the kyuubi reform.”

“Have you ever thought it’s because those patrols are resources and the recent attack against the Kazekage has proven that even the hidden villages are not safe?”

“Then why didn’t she stop them when Suna threatened war?” Sasuke bites back, his face perfectly emotionless in the dim light of the moon.

“Suna threatened war?”

“Apparently their Kage was fond of Naruto,” Sasuke scoffs. “And having the leaf shinobi who may have killed him welcomed back without punishment didn’t go over well.” Kaien forces himself not to frown at this information - of course, he had heard rumors of this but nothing that his network could actually pin down as indisputable fact. (It seems he truly does not understand how much his life as Naruto had meant to those around him. Having these facts repeatedly shoved into his face leaves his head spinning).

“You said ‘may have’,” Kaien tilts his gaze to look at the Uchiha. “You still don’t believe me.”

Sasuke remains silent, but it tells him all he needs to know.

Kaien shakes his head, “Then this conversation has no purpose. You’ve wasted your time.”

“Of course it has a purpose,” the words come out almost forcefully.

“One that could only see one outcome and refuses to accept any other,” Kaien hums.

“The truth.”

“My guilt,” he corrects. “You are using me to help deny that you killed your best friend.”

“I’m not denying anything,” Sasuke spits out, anger spreading over his features. The first time Kaien has gotten any true reaction during all their conversations. That anger turns his eyes red and black, sharingan spinning faster and faster. “These eyes are proof enough.”

The mangekyou sharingan seems bright even in the dim lighting.

Kaien meets the boy’s gaze impassively, he has no intentions of backing down. “What do your eyes have to do with anything?” Because he _shouldn’t_ know, even though he _does._ Because how could he ever forget the reason that Sasuke had killed him?

“You gain these eyes by killing your best friend,” Sasuke visibly works to gain control over his features again. “How can I deny anything when these are a constant reminder?”

“Just because you have a reminder doesn’t mean you can’t be looking for other reasons for his death,” Kaien tells him smoothly. “You just have to accept that I am not one of them.”

There is silence after that, only the small shifting of branches and rattle of leaves overhead breaks their tension.

The next morning comes and it is more than obvious that their talk the night prior has done little by why of their relationship on the team. If anything it seems to have worsened it if the glares he receives are anything to go by.

If anyone notices - and Kaien doesn’t doubt that they have - no one mentions it. Probably for the best; they have a mission to focus on.

A missions that, in Kaien’s opinion, goes to hell the second the spy appears on the bridge.

_“Kabuto?”_ Nejibana’s voice flickers with surprise. Kaien’s own feelings matching because Kabuto practically worships the ground Orochimaru walks on, adores the snake to a degree that had shocked the Shiba when he first started to truly acquaint himself with Oto. Kabuto’s loyalty to the snake is as unwavering as Kaien’s own towards Jushiro.

_‘So he’s a double agent,’_ Kaien thinks. _‘It explains how he got so much information on the Akatsuki.’_

Really, Kaien should have known - no spy could survive in Orochimaru’s ranks. Not with _Kabuto_ watching over their movements. Which means that their cover is already blown. It’s just a matter of whether Kabuto will let them know that or not. Perhaps the safest route would be to feed them false information, but then again, Kabuto probably already knows that they don’t plan on letting him live past this meeting.

Which means-

His train of thought gets cut off as Kabuto attacks Tenzo.

_Really,_ Kaien should have expected all of this. With a huff he leaps from his cover and into the building fight below - because he can’t let Orochimaru’s favorite disciple die and as powerful as Team Kakashi is they are bound to get injured when fighting someone of Kabuto’s caliber.

And… _‘Isn’t that Orochimaru’s signature?’_

**_“Finally, something interesting.”_ **


	10. Third year part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Ello my lovely readers!
> 
> It seems I’m losing my touch when it comes to updating in a timely manner… Really, no excuse. And I have good news! Although I won’t update often over the next 10 weeks or so I can still access the internet and will gladly update when I get the chance! (Thus the whole new stories being posted instead of me updating old ones thing… I swear I’m not abandoning any of my works).
> 
> Also! All of you guys should come say hi to me on tumblr! My blog is - LadyKG
> 
> Anyway, hope you are all doing well! Onto the new chapter, enjoy!  
> ALSO IMPORTANT - I CHANGED MY USERNAME ON HERE TO MATCH MY BLOG AND MY FANFIC ACCOUNT I AM TERRIBLY SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION!!!!

 

Kaien is truly starting to question Kurama’s sense of ‘intereting’.

Not because meeting blades with a sannin is _boring,_ it’s really the opposite, but because he has to act as if he is actually trying to harm the snake. (Who has brought _reinforcements_ \- it can be written off as them wanting to ensure Sasori would be taken out. However, knowing Kaien’s luck his team will conclude the fact Orochimaru must have known about the mission).

“You could have just called Kabuto off,” he mutters dodging a suiton jutsu that rises from the water beneath them. Their battle having brought them to the river at the bottom of the valley and thankfully out of earshot from anyone else on the team.

“There was no reason this spy would know about Sasori’s death,” Orochimaru sniffs. “Besides, it’s been far too long since we last sparred.”

Kaien doesn’t stop his frown from showing, really, Orochimaru could have hidden that message a bit better, “They haven’t responded?”

“She has never been the best diplomat.”

“Then why send her?” Kaien snorts, sliding to the right and coming up under the snake’s guard.

“Her healing powers will make a good bargaining chip,” the snake smiles, dropping down just as their blades meet to try and sweep his legs out from under him. It doesn’t work.

“Aa,” Kaien concedes. Because holding medical knowledge over another village’s head could very well turn the tides in negotiations. (And if flashes of Unohana’s ire when things don’t go her way makes a shudder run down Kaien’s spine? Well, he can just chalk it up to how cold the water is. Because medics really are the best at negotiating terms in the way they simply _don’t_ ). “And you couldn’t send a note because?”

“Akatsuki destroyed my base in the south,” Orochimaru hisses, “and Oto took a hit at the same time as the Suna attack. Kabuto suspects Zetsu is spying.”

“Which means sending messages is too dangerous,” Kaien concludes, (it also, he notes, explains why they are fighting on the river - the one place that Zetsu _can’t_ materialize from) eyes going wide, “which means…”

“They’re most likely watching you too,” Orochimaru’s smirk is unnervingly vicious, and if Kaien didn’t know the snake as well has he does then he would take it for malice against him.

“Konan and Nagato have been discovered,” he offers. Because it would make sense that more than one portion of his carefully constructed network would break at once. “But the Mizukage has said everything is quiet,” Kaien murmurs, more for himself than anything else. Because if Akatsuki has been watching him then they must know that he broke the Mizukage’s genjutsu by now. The potential that they have reestablished that control may very well be higher than he has been hoping for. “Perhaps it’s time I gave him a visit.”

“And abandon your post in Konoha,” the power behind the next strike was more than enough for Kaien to understand Orochimaru’s displeasure at the idea. They had worked hard to ensure he entered the village. No one in his position would want such tedious and patient plotting to go to waste.

“After, then,” Kaien huffs. Cutting the reishi in his feet so he drops into the water just as a katon flies overhead - not Orochimaru’s strong suit, but the snake doesn’t hold back either. When he comes up again he wastes no time letting off a kido spell, for whatever good it does in harming the snake at least it gives a more genuine feel to their battle. “I’ll just need to move my plans up a little.”

Orochimaru just gives him a flat look, and Kaien knows what it means better than he would like to. They have had the very same argument over his plans for a year now and Kaien would rather not start it all over again at the moment.

Instead he leaps back to create distance enough to throw a hastily conjured kido in the man’s direction, letting a shunpo take him up the jagged rock walls to rejoin the fray that is his comrades. Orochimaru isn’t far behind and easily makes their appearance look like a chase more than signal for the battle to come to a close within the next few blows.

In the end, they come out relatively unscathed. Sai is limping and Kakashi looks slightly singed but no mortal injuries to be seen. (Nothing Sakura can’t heal up perfectly fine, and by the glint in her eyes none of them are getting out of an injury check).

* * *

 

The room is stuffy from humidity and tension, Tsunade is staring at them with a blank expression as they finish their verbal reports. Each of them giving a detailed account of what their fight had entailed and that they failed to gain any information on Orochimaru or his bases’ current whereabouts. (Kaien does not mention his and the snake’s conversation).

When it is over, when the tension has built to a bursting point, the Hokage finally lets out a sigh, hands coming up to rub at her temples.

“It’s always team seven, isn’t it?” She mutters more for herself than them, but Kaien catches it all the same and from the shifting of those around him it’s obvious they have too. When she stops her ministration of attempting to stave off whatever headache they have caused she speaks again, “Alright, I want written reports from all of you in my office by tomorrow morning.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” they chorus.

Tsunade pauses, eyeing them like she can’t even begin to describe her frustration at the failure they have just handed her. “You’re dismissed.” And with those two words it becomes clear that she isn’t even going to try. She turns away, chair spinning so that she is rifling through a drawer instead of watching their exit.

None of them stick around, all to ready for her to change her mind and start dressing them down about how proper shinobi would have handled the situation and what they could have done differently.

Kaien feels a twinge of guilt at the fact he is part of the reason for this failure. Kabuto would have known either way, more likely than not, but it is because Kaien had drawn Orochimaru into his list of allies that Akatsuki had seen fit to attack the snake’s village and base. Had seen fit to have Zetsu follow and spy and make it near impossible to send a message through their networks. And had it not been necessary to communicate then Kabuto would not have come. Then Orochimaru and his comrades would not have come. Then those reinforcements would not have had to die.

And he feels guilt at the way he participated in that battle - that those around him were truly fighting for their lives and the lives of their comrades while he had simply been having a mere spar. A mock battle - one that was not steeped in pride or protection. One that had no place in protecting the heart he has formed with others in this world nor the team he has been placed on as a temporary resident of Konoha. That battle had no place for him in it. And yet he fought anyway, and shinobi lost their lives as a consequence.

(He can recognize that in a roundabout way he was working to protect the world by gathering that information - but was the price truly worth it? He may be a Shinigami but his race has always sought to guide spirits to the afterlife not cause them to make that journey).

A deep breathe in and he smothers the guilt before anymore roots take; he has enough guilt to last a lifetime. (A shinigami’s lifetime at that). Besides, he has more to worry about at the moment - such as Danzo and Akatsuki and his failing network of resources. And such as his need to send out a message to Terumi in order to better judge the situation with the Mizukage and see if he is needed in that village anytime soon. To see how much he has to push his plans up.

But he supposes, in the end, that matters little - he will push them up anyway. The swifter he attacks the better in this case. And Danzo would not expect a shinobi who has just returned from a mission to make a move.

Surprise will be his greatest advantage.

* * *

 

There are not many ROOT agents in the compound as he makes his entrance. Perhaps that is for the best when it comes to his own agenda but he can speculate as to why. It does not bode well.

He has disguised himself with stolen gear and makes swift work of navigating the tunnels to the region just northwest of Danzo’s office. If his time in this world has taught him anything it’s that no one stops a shinobi in full gear that looks like they have somewhere to be. And although his plan feels underhand and like it holds no pride he knows that such values will be his downfall while undertaking the operation to dismantle the threats in this dimension. Knows and despairs all the same - feels guilt, and like he has turned his back on all that Jushiro has taught him. Yet the steady hum of support from his ever-present companions makes it easier to take each step.

Steps that bring him to a slightly secluded corner in which he allows Nejibana and himself to separate. Feels the split like a lost limb. She will remain hidden for five minutes - just long enough for him to use his slowest shunpo to navigate to a few breathes east of Danzo’s office.

He turns his back on his partner with every insurance that she will handle whatever threat comes her way. Long enough for him to find what he needs.

The walls surrounding him feel as if they are closing in slowly - filled with chakra seals that will not let the energy be felt outside of the hidden compound. He feels their pressure acutely, even if they are less than capable of completely cutting off his own or Nejibana’s reishi from being felt.

Kaien slips into the shadows, stretching his senses down the caverns to note his partner’s whereabouts as well as Danzo’s own. The man seems to be in his office as predicted, a few agents mill about the walkways, a handful of others gathering in an area just south of Nejibana’s position, and others seem scattered about the base. They couldn’t have picked a better night to perform this stage.

Kaien settles into a rhythm of steps, falling out of his shunpo with baited breath. One. Two. Three. And then is comes. Harsh and demanding of attention in the most violent of methods. A tidal wave.

Anger biting and twisting down the corridor with malicious intent he knows she learned from Kurama. Bundled up into a delivery that should send Danzo staggering, because it is for him that it has been created. For him, who has fallen a nation, ripped hope from a revolution, and crippled freedom fighters. For him, who has subjected a people so brutally, deceived a village, and named all these in the push for bettering Konoha. For him who is just as much a part of a clan’s complete decimation as the two members that committed the massacre.

Kaien feels it all, lets it wash over him as if it is nothing. Focusing instead on the reaction of the agents filling the base. It’s like stars coming to life, bursting hot spots of chakra clustering in rushing footsteps towards his partner. He can imagine the first ring of weapons meeting. The mark of a battle. He can feel Danzo move from his office, rushed but not running like his agents. All the same it gives Kaien the opening he has planned for.

He spins on his heal, keeping to the edges of the corridors and counting as ROOT members troop past towards the building fight. The first break in their mad scramble gives him the opportunity to duck into Danzo’s office. A refined space, not nearly as paper filled as the Hokage’s office but Kaien think that’s because the piles are stacked neater.

The drawers in the room are filled to the brim and meticulously organized to the point that Kaien nearly cheers in relief. Ordered conveniently by date, and although he has only a vague idea of when the revolution was occurring it doesn’t take long to pinpoint the start of Danzo’s missions regarding the third war. He could hug Kurama for the relief that fills him - time is of the essence and Kaien had thought he would need to search endlessly for their existence. (The fox, it should be noted, refuses his offer with a snap of his jaw). Still it takes nearly ten minutes before he comes across the first series of missions regarding a rising resistance movement in Amegakure that opposes the rule of Hanzo.

All Kaien can hear as he opens file after file is Nagato’s blood-wet voice. _We called ourselves the Akatsuki,_ he told, _freedom-fighters that wanted to bring Ame into a new era of peace-_

_Yahiko was our leader, our best friend-_

_He was killed-_

_I could not save him-_

_If your bring me proof of your suspicions-_

_This world may very well know peace-_

Copying the files takes time, their weight and number counting down another ten minutes and by then the sight of a new file set on the man’s desk has more than caught his attention. A mission scroll near finished but lacking signature and seal.

A kill order written in a bureaucrat’s calligraphy. For the Mizukage.

Another neatly rolled next to it, detailing a failed invasion of Orochimaru’s eastern base - trying to gather Senju cells. Why would he need- Unless…

He can remember tales, if few, about how the trees around Konoha have been infused with the first’s chakra. How Senju Hashirama’s skills in mokuton had aided so much in the building of the village. Either Danzo is looking to gain that power himself, or force it onto another that will follow his orders without question. The thought makes him feel queasy. (A distant part of his mind notes that this may cause the man to go after Yamato).

Placing away his own scrolls, sealed and stuffed carefully out of easy reach of the enemy, Kaien slips out of the office. He has maybe thirty minutes until Nejibana is forcefully pulled into his mindscape. He rushes down the corridor, skidding around turns. If they are to leave in a timely manner then he needs to-

His thoughts are cut off as a kunai skims the edge of his mask. Kaien tips his head to the side just in time, ducking the roundhouse kick that follows and sliding on his knees to get behind his assailant. Coming up to his feet he allows the next blade to crash against the plate covering his forearm. He can’t use reishi here, his will be easily identified and any kido techniques are too obvious in drawing back to him. Nejibana herself has refrained; they don’t need the fact they are the players of this game to be discovered so early on.

Another dodge and suddenly two more come up from behind, he plucks a kunai from the incoming barrage using it to block the remaining. Deflecting them with the hope that at least one will hit a non-vital part of another agent. (The fact they were thrown at all in such a tight space shows a clear disregard for the other members of their organization).

It seems that at the very least their plan was pieced together. Kaien doesn't bother to hold in the frown, hidden behind the mask as it is. This will only make things more difficult.

A swift series of shunpo and he has knocked the three members out for now. Not waiting to see if any others have heard the commotion Kaien disappears down the cave-like corridors. If Danzo knows then that means he _let_ Kaien into the office. _Let_ him take the information. Is assured in himself that his members will capture either Kaien or his partner. And if he does not come back for her then it only gives them a prisoner to torture for information and the chance that agents guarding exits will trap him. And if he does then Danzo shall have them both and the information that he has taken will give clues to what he knows and doesn’t. Give clues to what he is trying to do.

Kaien snorts, skidding to a halt and turning down a path that will lead to the south western exit. Let Danzo believe what he wants - in twenty-five minutes Nejibana will disappear, battered and bruised no doubt, but she will be alive. Kaien knows she will feel his movements, his retreat, and understand. Knows that she can handle those agents thrown at her. Trusts her to hold out for a little while longer.

Trusts that he has enough time to fight his way out of this base, past the woods and into his apartment unseen so that he can let the forced rejoining and its consequences hit them both. He will most likely be out for a day, and sluggish in his pain the next but at the very least he will have what he has come for. Besides, he has three days reprieve after their failed mission, what better way to spend them than trying to recover?

There are five the next time. He senses them before he even makes the turn, but this corridor is all but central to the base and he can’t avoid it if he wants to make it to the exit. Three women, two men, one wielding a katana and another already blasting a particularly nasty katon kutsu from their lips.

Kaien holds in a frustrated huff, pushing off the opposite wall of the turn with a pinch of reishi to gain speed and avoid getting burned. He wastes no time in ducking the shuriken or cutting the attached ninja wire with his stolen kunai. Their attacks come in weaker than they should and it tells Kaien that they have been ordered to capture not kill. Convenient for him. Not so much for them.

The man wielding the katana comes at him with little finesse and all textbook attacks. He’s more disappointed than he thinks he should be.

He feels nothing about stealing the katana as he knocks the last of them out. It is not Nejibana but it will have to do.

The blade is sharp, balanced and clearly made for conducting chakra. He never uses the bladed edge. Kaien has made the choice not to kill and he will stick by it - there are only so many values he is willing to push back in the name of peace, killing humans is not one of them.

 ** _“We’re running out of time here, kit.”_** Kurama rumbles from within him as he hits an agent on the back of the head, jumping over the body to avoid the senbon sent his way. This is the sixth team he has had to face thus far.

 _‘You think I don’t know that, furball!’_ He growls back, feeling a chakra infused blade cut deep into his thigh. With a quickly strangled cry at the sudden and sharp pain he sets to attack the group again.

 ** _“You have seven minutes to get back and out of that gear,”_** the fox continues.

 _‘Bit busy at the moment,’_ he kicks an agent clean in the abdomen, the force of which causes them to fly back and hit the wall with a resounding crack. _‘If you haven’t noticed I’m kinda fighting ten shinobi at the moment.’_

 ** _“To your right,”_ ** the biju tells him, just in time for the Shiba to move out of the way of a suiton jutsu. **_“Six minutes forty seconds.”_**

With a frustrated twist of his blade Kaien blocks a set of shurikan before committing himself to a shunpo that brings him to the end of the hall. His leg _burns_ with the effort, but he does not let the feeling stop him from moving into the next flashstep, and the next and the next. (Slower than normal, more like a faster shunshin to give as few hints as he can). The last few road blocks the agents set up Kaien has only bothered to engage in until given an opening. Those he leaves behind give chase, of course, but once they reach the woods he will be able to lose them easily enough. They won’t go into the village so blatantly, and Kaien is faster than them enough that he should reach it first.

He can feel Nejibana still, can feel that she is suffering from several injuries if only due to the sheer number of shinobi she is having to face. (He, himself, is suffering from several - kunai to the leg, senbon in his arm and a burn on his back. He just knows that if it weren’t for Kurama then when he would be covered in bruises). This has not gone as planned. But he should have expected that, after all what plan makes it past first contact with the enemy?

Breaking through the next team of agents gives him a clear path into the forest, the sound of leaves and ability to feel life all around him calms his racing heart just a bit. Adrenaline has always been his worst enemy in a fight, and being up against so much opposition with such a great handicap has set his nerves alight with the chemical.

He dodges the three kunai they send after him, but the explosion singes his hair and exposed skin. With a quiet curse he drops to a lower set of branches, simultaneously changing directions so that he will slip back into the village through the training grounds. He bursts into his fastest shunpo and doesn't stop until he reaches an alleyway not even a minute from his apartment.

The second he senses no threats around he strips. Mercilessly pulling out the weapons still sticking from his skin, and pealing his clothes away from the burns. There is poison as well, from the senbon he believes - but Kurama is making quick work of expelling that. He seals the ROOT uniform before testing for gaps in the team of ANBU sitting diligently outside his apartment. Luckily, he makes it in time to reconnect less than half of his traps before the world spins and he collapses a few feet from his blankets.


	11. Third year part 8

When Kaien awakes it’s with a jolt, his mind suddenly and _painfully_ brought back to consciousness without his consent. He had been having the most _wonderful_ of dreams, bittersweet enough to leave his heart throbbing in its wake. (He would give anything to taste that paradise again, even for just a moment.)

The first thing he notices is the ache. The way his muscles feel like they have been torn apart and remade so many times he can hardly stand to move them an inch. The second thing is the fact there are other people around him; five to be exact. And the third is that Nejibana is rambling on about reckless idiots and probably has been since he ended up in this position.

The ache lessons enough that he can peel his eyes back. Enough that he can make a soft noise from somewhere deep in his throat to alert his team that _yes_ he is still very much alive. It’s also, partially, to draw their attention away from the rest of his apartment - there is nothing here to _find,_ but the less they look around the better. After all, nothing means just as much as something in the world of shinobi.

Kakashi comes into his field of vision with such a cheerfulness that the need to _strangle_ the man almost makes Kaien’s muscles properly move. Sadly, almost isn’t enough and even what glare he _does_ manage serves only to make Kakashi hum.

“Oh, good, you’re alive.”

Kaien huffs out a breath, closing his eyes again because the light _hurts_ thank you very much. Maybe he should’ve just stuck with the Akatsuki and taken out their leader from within, leaving Danzo for his own village to clean up. But he knows he couldn’t have; from the way Orochimaru explained it, if it isn’t the Akatsuki starting the fourth war than it will be Danzo. And Kaien is positive that this is what the Soul King wants him to stop. _This_ is what will let him go home.

“Sakura, he’s awake,” Kakashi calls out, sending a splitting pain right through his head. When Kaien blinks his eyes back open a head of pink hair has joined Kakashi’s silver.

“I still can't find anything medically wrong,” Sakura is saying, her poking and prodding doing absolutely _nothing_ to help. “If you tell me what you did it’d help.”

He blows out a breath of air, “It’s my reitsu,” he tells her. “I pushed too much into a seal and it backfired.” In this moment he cares little for the hit to his pride over such a mistake, one that any fresh out of the academy Shinigami would know better than to do. Because it has the barest hold over the potential that they find out the real reason, or even a part of it. Besides, it conveniently explains why he is sprawled out away from his bed, and why half his traps aren’t even set up.

“And this caused you to be unconscious for…” Sakura trails off, a raised eyebrow to show that it’s intended as a question.

“What day is it?” He asks in form of an answer because he doesn’t actually _know_ how long he’s been out.

“Thursday.”

He counts back, and feels Nejibana’s anger rise further when his conclusion is made, “Two days.”

“Two days.” Sasuke’s sandals stop beside Sakura, the Uchiha sounds entirely ready to rub this into his face. “You messed up bad enough to knock you out for two days.”

Kaien’s fingers twitch with his annoyance, and he counts that movement as a start. He’s slowly gaining back control of his limbs, but the longer he can draw this conversation out the more time he will have.

“Seals are unforgiving,” he says, matter-of-fact.

“Evidently.”

Kaien scowls, “What are you doing in my apartment anyway?”

“You were later than Kaka-sensei to training,” Sakura tells him with a shrug. “We got worried.”

He holds in a snort, he doubts it is worry over his being that brought them to break into his residence, but the thought that he could be doing something harmful towards their precious village that drove them to check his whereabouts. Not that he blames them, really. Because if he had been in a similar position when in Soul Society he would have done the same thing - he practically had been, when taking into account his suspicions of Aizen.

“Well, I’m fine.” His scowl doesn’t leave his face, mostly to cover up his concentration in trying to make his muscles respond faster. “So you can all be on your way.”

There is a pause, long enough that Kaien wants to sink into the floor. “You can't move, can you?” Tenzo is the one to ask.

“I can move,” he snaps back out of the sheer need to defend himself and with no thought to the fact that he will actually have to prove this claim and that he _can’t_. At least not yet. Not unless Kurama is willing to help him out, but from the huff of laughter that is breezing through his mindscape, Kaien can say for certain that the fox won’t be aiding him anytime soon.

“Maa, then you’ll have no problem getting up,” Kakashi eye smiles.

Kaien grits his teeth, “Just… give me a few minutes.”

“A few minutes,” Kakashi repeats, amusement clear in that grey orb. The bastard is _enjoying_ Kaien’s predicament.

A few minutes turns out to be ten and even then he can only move stiffly and with a great deal of pain. Everything hurts. Right down to the spirit particles in his bones. But he manages to get to his feet, eyes blazing with a challenge at the group in his home.

“You look constipated, Ken-chan,” Sai tells him with his fake smile plastered neatly across his face.

The comment doesn’t make him mad so much as it makes a laugh burst from his chest entirely unprepared. Even though it stings, sends a throbbing ache through every muscle, it also breaks the last of the tension in the room.

* * *

 

By the time he can move without pain they are receiving their next mission. One a lot less demanding than the last; they will be guarding a group of merchants that are traveling northwest towards Lightning. No spies, or double-agents. Really, it is as straight forward as a mission can get for a joint venture; protect a fairly well-known merchant family from any potential looters or bandits until they reach the border of Lightning. At which point a team of Kumo-nin will take over the mission.

It wouldn’t even take exceedingly long - two weeks travel to the border, and then four days back.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to it. The need to get out of the village again was a constant itch under his skin; it felt _wrong_ to be held behind such closed walls. Or perhaps it was his own nerves over the fact Danzo hasn’t _done_ anything since the break in. Everything has been quiet, quieter than he would expect.

Whatever the reason, the second he stepped out from Konoha’s gates he felt like a weight had left him. Even Nejibana relaxed in his mindscape. The fact that their caravan included a couple of young children who were absolutely _fascinated_ in his sword also helped. (Although it makes something ache in his chest, because his missed this - he missed the opportunity of having his own children with his wife - and now he can’t even see his family. Can’t even make sure Aizen doesn’t hurt them.)

“Her name is Nejibana,” he tells them, pride in his voice as he feels her puff up in his mind. “She helps protect me.”

“Neji-bana?” The younger of the two asks, looking up at him with a scrunched up nose.

“It means spiranthes,” he reaches out and ruffles the kid’s hair.

“Why?” The older pipes up, swinging their legs from where they sit on the wagon.

“Why what?”

“Why’d you name your sword after a flower?”

Kaien shrugs, his fingers dancing lightly over the hilt of his sword, “She picked it.”

The child scoffs in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest, “Swords can’t _talk_.”

“How would you know?” Kaien raises an eyebrow, his eyes sparkling with humor.

“Because they have no mouth!” The kid exclaims, as if the answer is obvious. It makes Kaien smile, soft and kind.

“But she has a soul.”

“A soul?” The younger sister presses in wide-eyed excitement.

Kaien hums, “All swords do.”

“If that’s all true, then why haven’t any of our other guards told us about it?” The older questions, the kind of look in his eyes that says he thinks he has won.

“Clearly they all thought you were too young.” The offended look that crosses the boy’s face is more than worth the way the sister starts laughing.

“That includes _you,_ ” the brother snaps at the girl, but it doesn’t shut her up.

The conversations continue throughout the trip, and although the parents won’t show it he can tell how relieved they are that their kids are distracted. From that reaction alone it’s not hard for Kaien to tell the two are trouble makers.

By the middle of week two, however, the children have become restless enough that not even telling them extravagant tales can keep them occupied. They turn to mischief, and Kaien is more than happy to see the way Sasuke and Tenzo have become the center of their pranks. Although he suspects Sakura and Kakashi are helping. Kaien himself may or may not have had some part in the most recent trap.

When they hit day eleven with no sign of any real threats - the small group of bandits they met a few days ago were barely worth the kunai - it leaves him on edge. The nagging feeling that _something_ is going to happen not leaving him no matter how many times his scans come back with nothing. From the quick glances he gives the other members of the team he can tell they feel the same. For such a big caravan, and such an expensive group of guards one would expect more action. But there has been practically nothing.

Also putting into consideration that this is the perfect time for an attack - the journey is almost done which leaves them weary, few attacks have happened which leaves them on edge, and their patrons are still here for them to protect - it’s really no surprise that the atmosphere has become tense.

Rightfully tense it would seem, because the brush of life forces just hit his senses. He glances at Kakashi, a flicker of understanding between them is all it takes. There are four of them - highly concentrated points only a minute out and moving _fast_ and faster with each breath.

“We need to get the civilians to safety,” he mouths as Kakashi comes closer, the words barely even a whisper so as to not frighten their patrons.

“There’s no time.”

Kakashi’s right. Kaien can’t even dodge the incoming kunai if he doesn’t want the children to get hit. So with speed that got him the title of lieutenant Kaien draws Nejibana and deflects the oncoming blades.

Their opponents burst through the trees not long after. Kaien’s senses had been right, there are four of them.

The four remaining members of Akatsuki, that is.

Something cold and icy slithers down his spine. He knew they would come for him eventually, but he had hoped they would attack Konoha directly - giving a larger buffer between him and the members - or do so when they didn’t have civilians to worry about on a mission.

Nejibana rages in his head at the idea that the family will be hurt, and Kaien can’t help but share her sentiments. Although he knows that the throes of death are nothing to be afraid of in this world, it still makes his jaw clench at the thought of those he is supposed to protect dying. There is no pride or honor in letting them perish. Not when he can do something to stop it.

Team Kakashi is in formation to front the attack already. Sakura sliding into position next to Kakashi facing Kisame, while Tenzo and Sai raise arms against Deidara. Kaien can’t say he’s surprised that Sasuke breaks formation to go after Itachi who takes one look at his younger brother and moves off into the woods to their right. The last of them, the one that calls himself Madara, is Kaien’s to take on.

 “What do you want?” Kakashi calls out.

“To rid this world of a pest.” Madara says, voice deep.

“Two pests,” Deidara throws in, a smile that is all teeth and treat spreading across his face. “Pinky’s going down for killing Danna, un.”

The blond earns a smack over the head from Kisame for his trouble, and the comment is altogether ignored by the rest of the group. Meaning they’re here solely for him then.

He settles into a ready stance, reiatsu rising to just under the surface, ready for his command at a moment’s notice. “This is between us, leave everyone else out of it.”

“It’s not nearly as fun that way,” Kisame swings his sword from over his shoulder, letting the tip hit the ground with a resounding thud. The tension builds around them as they size their opponents up, looking for weaknesses, looking for places to attack.

A distance away there is an explosion, and Kaien knows that he will have to go after Itachi and Sasuke as soon as he can. Knows that he’ll need to stop Sasuke from killing his brother, because the truth behind the massacre is so much more complex than the little Uchiha has realized. And that truth will _break_ him. It will also put Danzo away for longer than anything else Kaien can present, and it brings to light a key witness to Danzo’s crimes. It will bring the man’s downfall so much faster than if Kaien handed over all the documents he has gathered, because those will need to be sifted through. Those will need to be verified and any who can verify them will be dead long before Tsunade can call them forward. Whereas Itachi will be a wildcard that Danzo would never expect.

But right now there are more pressing matters at hand.

_‘Nejibana?’_

_“If you want everyone to live, we don’t have much choice.”_ Nejibana says, her voice solemn and prepared. _“There are worse things to reveal.”_

Kaien nods, sucking in a breath to fortify his resolve, he lets the warm sensation of his reiatsu wash over him. Lets it build like a wave around him, drowning himself and everyone in its pressure until it’s practically going to burst.

“Shikai.”


	12. Third year part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'ello lovely readers,  
> So it's been a while, again, but well, at least the wait wasn't as long as last time, right?  
> Anyway, onto the newest chapter! Hope you all enjoy!

The one in the orange mask, who claims to be Madara, meets his attack half way, and Kaien won’t admit it but he’s thankful that the rush of this battle will put off needing to discuss what he just revealed. (Not that he plans on explaining anything, really.) Shikai is just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg and Kaien has no interest in letting them see the rest. Not yet, and hopefully not _ever._

Madara ducks the swipe of his trident, phasing through the wall of water that rises up after, and using the moment of shock that crosses Kaien’s face to lash out with several kunai. Kaien flash steps away twisting to avoid letting his fight interfere with Kakashi and Sakura’s where they face off against Kisame. He takes a moment to glance back at their convoy, thankful to see that the parents have already herded their children to the other side of the cart in attempt to avoid the worst of the battle.

Movement from his left has him throwing kunai, a distraction that gives him time to bring Nejibana around to block the naginata that has appeared in Madara’s hands. Water comes up with the strike, reaching out to cut through the man, but Madara phases through, in the same moment jumping back. Kaien follows in an attempt to push them towards the woods; away from the caravan and towards Sasuke and Itachi. Two birds with one stone, and all that.

But Madara charges as well, phasing through him to get behind, and even as Kaien twists to block the attack that follows he feels the bladed weapon catch against his thigh. A burst of pain runs up his leg, making him hiss as he pulls away. But this told him something. This and the way Madara pulled back earlier - he couldn’t attack and be intangible at the same time.

“Call your men off,” Kaien tries as their battle pauses, “this is between us.”

Madara tips his head to one side, “No.” A flash of hand signs and burst of chakra later and Kaien uses a series of flash steps to escape the fireball. A few more bursts and he escapes the sweep of Madara’s naginata. But even as Kaien steps back again, Madara moves forward and he’s forced to bring Nejibana up to block the strike. Using the momentum of it to his advantage Kaien lets Nejibana twist so that the butt of his weapon comes up to clip Madara’s chest while stepping out of the way of the naginata that slides along Nejibana’s staff to strike the ground.

Water bursts upwards, slicing through the first layers of cloth before Madara’s able to jump back, but it doesn’t hit flesh like Nejibana’s sharpened butt had been able to.

“You can’t really believe starting another war will solve anything,” Kaien says, cutting to the side as shuriken try to distract him from the hand signs Madara is weaving through. A twirling trail of fire rages towards Kaien and with a curse he realizes that it’ll hit the caravan. Pushing reiastu into Nejibana he calls up a wall of water, hoping that the steam it creates won’t affect his teammate’s battles too heavily.

Madara laughs through it all, “I’m going to create a world without war. Without death. A world of _truth_.”

“Impossible,” Kaien snaps, eyes and senses scanning for any movement or attack. “No one can outrun death.”

“I did,” Madara says, and Kaien swings Nejibana up to block his attack. For a breath Kaien wants to refute that, but Madara drops to sweet out his legs and Kaien levels himself up and over the man. With a burst of shunpo that’s faster than his previous Kaien brings the tip of Nejibana’s trident down onto Madara’s back. She sinks in, but Kaien can tell immediately that Madara has phased through the attack by the lack of resistence.

_“Kaien,”_ Nejibana’s voice sounds in his mind, almost breathless. _“There’s a seal on his heart.”_

_‘What?’_

_“You hurt him, and I felt it,”_ she says.

Kaien pulls back, settling into a ready position as Madara draws himself up. _‘Are you sure?’_

_“Strike his chest again.”_

That’s a no then, Kaien concludes, but Nejibana isn’t one to lie about these things and if it gives them more information on their enemy then he’ll do what needs to be done. Kaien swings Nejibana up, letting reiastu run through the length of her and pushes a wall of water towards Madara. Instead of following after he uses flash step to move around, and as Madara moves to dodge the wall Kaien draws up a wave next. However, the man doesn’t become intangible, simply disappears in swirl of chakra. Kaien grits his teeth.

He moves back into a defensive position, senses moving out to try and pick up where the man went. His heart drops as a spike of chakra comes from where their clients are hiding. With a burst of reiastu and panic Kaien forces his fasted shunpo. He jumps over the cart, dropping down in front of the wife, who is protecting the youngest child, placing Nejibana in front of the other, who had been attempting to place himself before his sister, just as the naginata’s blade sinks deep into his shoulder. He ignores the shouts of the civilians around him.

With a growl, he grips the naginata with one hand and lurches forward, gritting his teeth at the way the movements digs the blade deeper. Bringing Nejibana around he shoves the trident forward, letting it sink as far as he could into the man’s chest.

Madara pulls back, releasing his weapon and placing a hand to his chest as he whirled away. Kaien let out a breath, his shoulder burning as he pulls the blade out and let Kurama take over healing. He looks down at the abandoned weapon, and after a moment’s thought hands it to the wife - her husband had been _cowering,_ doing nothing to protect his family. “Protect your children,” he tells her.

She nods, a fierce look in her gaze as she grips the weapon.

Fanning out his senses Kaien finds that Madara has moved to help Kisame, most likely in an attempt to take out Kakashi and Sakura. _‘Nejibana?’_

_“There’s a seal,”_ she confirms. _“I can’t tell what it’s for, but I can recreate it if you give me some time.”_

_‘After this fight, then.’_

_“And Kaien,”_ Nejibana says, even as he’s jumping over the caravan, _“he has a young soul.”_

With a burst of shunpo he throws himself into the fight with Kisame and Madara. Cutting between the opposing forces with a wall of water, and a quickly formed barrier kido that takes the brunt of the suiton jutsu sent their way. He hadn’t put enough reiatsu into that water to claim it as his own, so it’s no wonder that Kisame would take advantage of that.

The water falls at last, and it leaves Kaien with the sight of Kisame standing in front of Madara; almost protectively. It gives him an idea.

“Sakura, break the ground when my barrier falls,” Kaien doesn’t bother turning to make sure she heard. “Kakashi, take the distraction and get under Madara to hold him down.”

The barrier shatters just as he finishes speaking, and it’s with no small amount of relief that Kaien sees Sakura move forward, the ground giving a great heave as it splits and rubble the size of boulders bursts into the air. Kaien feels more than sees Kakashi move, but in moments the Hatake is underground.

His reiatsu rises around him as he prepares for another kido, weaving around the boulders as Sakura punches one towards Kisame. Kakashi just makes it under Madara, bursting from the ground and forcing the man to dodge, but it grabs his attention enough to slow his escape from Kaien’s own attack.

“Bakudo one: Sai,” he says, letting the binding energy burst from his hands and wrap around Madara. He suspects it won’t take long for the man to break out, but it’ll slow him enough to knock him out at the very least. Kaien has no intention of killing anyone here; hopes to never kill a single person in this world so long as he remains, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hurt them enough to incapacitate.

Only, as he’s bringing his trident around to strike Madara’s head, he is met with another sword, and a decidedly shark-like smile. The shock comes not from having his attack blocked, but by the feeling of sword that meets Nejibana. It’s the most sentient weapon he’s felt since arriving, and for a hairsbreadth of a moment Kaien feels as if he’s back in soul society, but the feeling leaves as suddenly as it came and he’s pulling back.

At the same time Sakura comes in from the right, the same side that Kisame had blocked on, using that distraction to try and get a punch in on Madara, but Kisame moves to block, arms crossing to take the punch’s blow. Not a smart move, if the crunch of bone is anything to go by, but Kisame doesn’t even flinch.

Kakashi comes in from the other side, the sound of a thousand birds sending a chill down Kaien’s spine, just as Madara breaks free from his restraints. Kaien lets out a string of curses, because there’s no way Kakashi will make it out of that alive; spinning Nejibana, with a shout of warning, he draws forth a surge of reiatsu and water. It separated the two, and the spark of electricity in the air dispersed.

He has every intention of joining Kakashi’s fight, but Kisame is suddenly _there,_ forcing him to bring Nejibana up to block the strike of his sword. But they’re pulling apart just as fast to escape the range of Sakura’s punch.

Kisame’s already injured, and despite the fact he’s doing well to not show it, Kaien knows that a broken - possibly shattered - arm will wear him down faster. And from the way Madara has glanced at the swordsmen since the hit, it seems Kaien’s suspicions about their being a sense of comradery between them, at the very least, is true. Which gives the potential of ending this battle if they can injure Kisame severely enough.

But no. That’s not exactly right, because this is a world of shinobi and Kaien needs to remember that, this a world where leaders will not falter in the sight of a comrade’s death or injury. It might work the other way around, however, because protecting Madara seems to be a priority to Kisame.

“Sakura,” he says, “keep him busy.”

He charges Kisame then, using the shocked excitement at such a blatant attack to flash step to the side, leaving Sakura an opening as Kisame attempt to follow the movement. With another burst of speed he brings himself to a fairly untouched patch of earth, and brings the sharply tipped butt of Nejibana to the ground. He’ll trust the other two to keep their opponents busy until he can finish.

The seal isn’t exactly complex, but is should shut down Madara’s spiritual energy for a few hours at the very least. He’s nowhere as good with seals as his first mother, Kushina, had been, so it won’t be nearly as devastating, but it’ll be enough.

_‘Sorry about this,’_ he tells his partner, but he doesn’t wait for a response before scraping the ground. It takes longer than he would have liked - by the time he finishes he can feel the way Sakura’s chakra is wavering - but at least he managed it.

“Kakashi!” He calls out, stepping away from his design, and sweeping his gaze towards his old sensei’s fight. Kaien’s more than grateful that the Hatake doesn’t look over his shoulder, simply takes several leaps back and then a shunshin when a fireball bursts after his retreat.

In moments the man is at his side, “Help Sakura, I’ve got this.”

Kakashi looks at him for a long moment, grey eyes assessing, before he gives a short nod, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Me too,” he murmurs, but the Hatake doesn’t hear, already cutting into Sakura’s fight. He pulls up a barrier of water when he notices Madara move to help Kisame, “Did you forget about me so soon?”

Madara sends him a glare that Kaien can feel despite the mask, and then he’s gone in swirl of chakra. Only Kaien is ready for his reappearance, twisting low and bringing Nejibana up in sweep that drags a whip of water with it as Madara comes into existence to his left. Three steps back and two to the side, he draws the man back towards his design.

Three more steps, and Kaien can feel the spark of his reiatsu as it leaps from him and into the strokes of his seal. Madara hadn’t been expecting it. Which, Kaien supposes, is the only reason he got caught in it in the first place. All the same, he goes down with a cry a pain, spiritual energy forcefully repressed.

But Kaien doesn’t move to strike the finishing blow, even as Madara is practically immobilized on the ground. Instead, he squats by the man’s side, reaching out to place a hand on an already healed chest and sensing for the seal that Nejibana had said would be there.

“There’s a seal,” he murmurs, as his senses find it, “over your heart.”

Madara glares, but Kaien can see that the words have been heard.

There’s a warning shout behind him. Kaien dives to the side and away from Madara’s body with a touch of reiatsu for speed. He just barely manages to avoid the strike of Kisame’s sword. The man kneels quickly, and even as Kaien is sweeping around into a defensive position Kisame has picked Madara up.

There’s a sharp flair of chakra from the swordsman. “Deidara, we’re leaving!”

“So soon? I didn’t even get to fight the pink-bitch, un!” The blond sweeps down on a bird of clay, avoiding Sai’s ink creations and Tenzo’s reaching shoots of wood. Despite Deidara’s words there is little protest as Kisame hauls himself and Madara onto the clay formation. Kaien spares the group a moment more of attention before he’s splitting into the woods towards Sasuke and Itachi’s fight. He needs to stop them.

He may not agree with Itachi’s method of dealing with Danzo’s treachery, but that doesn’t mean he can simply let him die, especially with how important keeping him alive is in the long run. (Especially because Itachi is Kaien’s final ticket out of Konoha.)

Landing on a tree branch he observes the field of battle; a good portion of the surrounding area has been devastated, an entire section of forest left completely leveled as a storm starts to brew overhead. Several fires still blaze, a few of them black in color as the pair cross swords in the center of their personal wasteland. Kaien holds in a snort; he hasn’t seen drama like this since the last time Jushiro-taichou and Shunsui-taichou fought. The greatest difference, however, is that the outcome of this battle threatens to be decidedly more deadly.

He waits until Sasuke leaps back, flying through hand signs for another jutsu, waits until the boy sucks in a breath and Kaien can feel a spike of chakra coming from both opponents. Then he makes his move. He draws water from the earth to supplement the lack of it in the air, sending it towering between the two as he follows in its wake. Nejibana hits a rib made of chakra as Kaien appears in front of Itachi, but he doesn’t let his surprise slow him down.

“I know about Danzo,” he tells Itachi. “Dying won’t solve anything, he can still face justice for what he did.”

“This is justice.” Itachi falls back, throwing kunai in Kaien’s path so he won’t follow immediately.

“It’s really not.” He gives a wry smile, “I’m sure Sasuke would agree with me.”

The wall of water falls, leaving a small lake in its wake that slowly seeps back into the parched ground. Sasuke stands on the other side, eyes blazing and face set into an expression of rage. “What the hell are you doing, Kaien? Itachi is _mine_ to kill!”

“You don’t want to do this!” He calls out to the boy, “You don’t know the whole story!”

“Like hell I don't,” Sasuke snarls, face twisting into a scowl.

Kaien has to duck under the sweeping kick of Itachi’s leg, using his momentum to roll away from the shuriken implanting themselves into the earth. “Danzo set everything up, and then he stole your clan’s eyes!”

With a bit off curse Kaien sends a whip of water to knock the kunai off course. Only to curse again as a chakra constructed arm slams into him from the side. Nejibana takes the brunt of the attack, but Kaien can feel the impact in every bone of his body.

“Would you just stop already?!” Kaien growls, “You dying is only going to make things worse!”

“It’ll rid this world of a monster,” Sasuke counters as he moves to attack his brother. Kaien feels his age more than he ever has in that moment, looking on his once-best-friend as he loses his mind to vengeance.

“Bakudo one: Sai,” he says calmly. The energy tangles around Sasuke, stopping him in his tracks. The boy shouts, and out of the corner of his eyes Kaien sees Itachi jerk forward with a restrained motion to help. Kaien flash steps to be behind the boy, placing the tip of Nejibana against Sasuke throat and making both brothers freeze. “Now,” Kaien starts with false cheer and a too-wide smile, “we’re going to have a nice talk.” Kaien doesn’t bother to look at the others entering the clearing, his attention focused on the two brothers in case they pull anything stupid. “Sasuke, your brother killed your entire clan on orders from who he thought was the Hokage, but it was Danzo instead. That bastard started rumors about the Uchiha after the kyuubi attack, blaming your clan, so the Uchiha started having talks of a coup. In turn, Danzo gave the orders to wipe out your clan.”

“Liar,” Sasuke spits out. “There’s no rea-.”

“Your eyes,” Kaien interrupts. “After the massacre his ROOT agents collected all of them for experimentation. He implanted several into himself. If you want revenge then at least focus on the right person.”

The tension in the clearing was so thick Kaien could have cut it with a knife, but he didn’t bother with further explanations. Anything else would need to come from Itachi himself. A family issue that would need to be resolved as such.

Kaien removed Nejibana from Sasuke’s throat, stepping back and letting his kido dissolve into reishi. He cast a final glance in Itachi’s direction, “You chose this path when you didn’t question orders, face the consequences like a true shinobi.”

With that said he leaves the clearing, leaves Sasuke and his brother, leaves his old sensei and Sakura. Leaves the mission, because Tsunade would need to be warned of an incoming prisoner and giving her time to review the documents that Kaien has gathered will help give her an edge in what’s to come. He leaves because he has better things to do than deal with the outcome of this mess. (He lets himself feel sorry about leaving behind their family of clients for only a moment; he trusts that Team Seven can figure out what to do with them.)

* * *

 

Kaien is gone before Team Seven even manages to get past the gates, having dumped the files of evidence on Tsunade’s desk and told her, in a tone that was too cheerful to be anything but a threat, that he was leaving. He fulfilled what he came to Konoha for, and he saw no reason to linger. If Konan and Nagato truly wanted him for peace talks than he would agree to be a guard, but nothing more. The politics of this world held only enough interest in him to understand their usage in gaining peace, he had no intentions to move into the realm of diplomatic relations.

(A small portion of him, the one that sits against the farthest reaches of his heart, aches at the thought of leaving without a good-bye to his old team. He may not have always gotten along with them, but memory and nostalgia is a funny thing - he remembers to readily all the time that had been fun, the times they laughed through missions, the times they tried to see under Kakashi’s mask, and the times before their illusions of shinobi world shattered like glass around them.)

He sends a note to Orochimaru when he makes it back to Ame, although he suspects that the snake already knows he’s left Konoha by that point. Really, Kabuto is a marvel.

The trek there was three days, and the second he arrives a call is put out for a Five Kage Summit; it’s something that they agreed upon, having peace talks after Danzo is dead and the evidence of his treachery has put to rest old wounds. It will take a while to fully convince the other nations to meet up, it mostly likely won’t happen until they’ve passed over to the new year, but Kaien has hope that within the next month or two this world will be well on its way to peace.

“We appreciate this,” Konan tells him as he hands over the scroll with all the information they need. “It helps put Yahiko to rest.”

Kaien nods, understanding the sentiment of wanting closure for a death of someone held dear. He wonders absently if he’ll receive the same for Miyako when all is said and done.

“The statue,” Kaien starts, moving onto a new subject. “It’s time to destroy it.”

“And the biju inside?”

“Bargaining chips for peace talks.”

 

 


End file.
